I 
RUELLIA LILACINA. 
(Lilac-flowered Ruellia.) 
Class. 
Order. 
DIDYNAMIA, ANGIOSPERMIA. 
' Natural Order. 
ACANTHACEiE. 
Generic Character. — Calyx five-parted ; lobes equal 
irsub-equal. CoroWahypogynous, funnel-shaped; limb 
ive-parted ; lobes equal, spreading, obtuse. Stamens 
bur, inserted in the tube of the corolla, didynamous. 
inthers oblong, two-eelled ; cells parallel, equal. Ovary 
vvo-celled. Style simple. Stigma oval-shaped, chan- 
lelled at the back. Capsule oblong-quadrangular, 
wo-celled, six to eight-seeded ; cells two-valved ; valves 
eed-bearing. Seeds adhering by a thread. 
Specific Character.— P tont an evergreen shrub. 
Branches herbaceous when young, glabrous. Leaves 
ovate, bluntly acuminate, many-nerved, entire at the 
margin. Flowers axillary, generally two from each 
axil, sessile. Calyx less than two-thirds the length of 
the corolla, five-cleft ; segments subulate, erect, un- 
equal. Corolla — tube veiny, slender, very long, funnel- 
shaped, curved ; limb spreading, segments rounded, 
very obtuse, nearly equal, veined. Seeds orbicular, 
compressed, margined, and ciliated. 
Synonyms. — Justicia glabrata.. 
Our subject is not the first of which we have had to record that, of its native 
loiintry we have no direct evidence- It is one of the many plants introduced 
Irom the Continent without any memorandae to indicate its original clime. 
It has been very generally known, and as generally distributed by Nursery- 
; nen, as Justicia glabrata : the appearance of its leaves will at once account for its 
• laving been specified by such a title. 
As it has at present come under our observation, we have found it growing 
rom eighteen inches to two feet high; the foliage of moderate size, and of a 
landsome shining dark-green hue. 
Hitherto we have scarcely seen a well-grown specimen, and we doubt not that 
;f the plant were subjected to a liberal mode of treatment, it would attain to much 
! greater dimensions than those before mentioned. Wherever any degree of atten- 
don has been bestowed upon it, the improvement in the aspect of the plant, and 
i- 
he increased abundance of blossoms, fully justify the conclusions we have come 
0, and give us some reason to suppose that it may prove freer-flowering than 
paany have imagined from merely observing it in a stunted condition. 
, : From its winter-flowering capacity it is likely to be useful to those who 
vish to have a display at that season ; and the appearance of its leaves is such as 
0 render it a desirable object, even without the aid of blossoms to enliance its 
