1144 
XC1II. ACANTHACErE. 
5. RUELLIA, Linn. 
(After John Ruelle, of Soissons, botanist to Francis I.) 
(Dipteracanthus and Cryphiacanthus, Keen ) 
Calyx more or less deeply divided into 5 lobes or segments. Corolla-lobes 5, 
nearly equal, spreading, contorted in the bud. Stamens 4, included in the 
corolla-tube ; anther-cells parallel and equal. Ovules 6 or more in each cell of 
the ovary. Capsule oblong-linear or clavate, more or less contracted and seedless 
at the base, very rarely equally 2-celled throughout. Seeds flat; retinacula 
hooked, often denticulate at the top. — Herbs or rarely shrubs. Flowers usually 
blue, mostly axillary, solitary or clustered, rarely in terminal or axillary spikes. 
A considerable genus, distributed over the warmer regions of the New and the Old World. 
The Australian species are all endemic. 
Sect. I. Dipteracanthus. — Bracteoles usually longer and broader than the calyx. 
Capsule contracted or flattened and seedless at the base. 
Corolla with a slender tube of lin., the broader portion or throat half as 
long. Calpsule fin. Flowers pedunculate 1. R. bracteata. 
Corolla-tube very shortly slender at the base, the throat much longer. 
Capsule Jin. long. Flowers nearly sessile. 
Corolla-throat nearly lin. long 2. R. primulacea. 
Corolla-throat scarcely Jin. long 3. if. corynotlieca 
Sect. II. Cryphiacanthus.— Braceteoles linear-subulate, shorter than the calyx or none. 
Capsule equally 2-celled from the base or nearly so. 
Flowers sessile in the axils or nearly so. Bracteoles shorter than the calyx 4. R. australis. 
Flowers distant in axillary leafless spikes. Bracteoles very small . . . . 5. B. spiciflora. 
Flowers solitary on elongated pedicels. Bracteoles none 6 . R. acaulis. 
1. R. bracteata (bracteoles prominent), If. Br. Prod. 479; Benth. FI. 
Austr. iv. 546. Stems usually simple, Gin. to 1ft. high, more or less hirsute as 
well as the foliage. Leaves shortly petiolate, oblong, or eliptical, the larger 
ones above 2in. long, the low T est small and obovate. Flowers blue, on axillary 
pedicels varying from Jin. to above lin. in length. Bracteoles herbaceous, oval- 
oblong, J to fin. long, enclosing the base of the flower. Calyx-segments narrow, 
2 to 3 lines long. Corolla with a very slender straight tube of about lin., the 
campanulate broad part or throat nearly half that length, the lobes broad and 
rounded, the margins slightly crisped. Stamens inserted near the top of the 
slender tube and reaching to the top of the throat. Capsule nearly fin. long, 
contracted into a broad flattened seedless base. Seeds in the upper part, 7 or 8 
in each cell. — Endl. Iconogr. t. 104 (the corolla-lobes more crisped than in any 
of the specimens seen) ; Dipteracanthus bracteatus, Nees in DC. Prod. xi. 143. 
Hab.: Cape York, M'Gillicray. 
The E. Indian Ruellia suffruticosa, Koxb., is evidently closely allied to if not identical with 
R. bracteata. — Benth. 
2. R. primulacea (primula-like), F. v. M. Herb.; Benth. FI. Austr. iv. 
546. A perennial, apparantly with the habit of If. corynotlieca, but larger and 
more villous. Leaves ovate, nearly sessile, J to lin. long. Flowers large, blue, 
nearly sessile in the upper axils. Bracteoles herbaceous, oval or oblong, much 
longer than the calyx. Calyx segments narrow, 2 to 3 lines long. Corolla 
with an exceedingly short narrow base, the remainder of the tube much dilated, 
above lin. long, forming a long broad rather oblique throat ; lobes broad, 
scarcely half as long as the tube. Capsule oblong-clavate, about Jin. long, 
contracted and seedless at the base. Seeds about 6 in each cell. 
Hab.: Burdekin River, F. v. Mueller; Selheim and Elliot Rivers, Bowman; Peak Downs, 
Burket ; Port Denison, I?. Fitzalan. 
The species is commonly met with in northern inland localities. 
