Description Perennial sometimes annual, suffrutescent, armed or unarmed herbs or shrubs, rarely climbers or small trees. Leaves exstipulate, usually simple, opposite-decussate, entire or undulate-dentate, rarely crenate-dentate or lobed, mostly with cystoliths on the upper surface, petiolate or sessile. Flowers commonly in dichasial cymes becoming monochasial, often in dense to lax spikes, racemes, panicles, sometimes fasciculate or verticilate, rarely solitary; sessile or pedicellate, bisexual, hypogynous, usually zygomorphic; bracts 1,2 or more, often coloured, frequently large, imbricate, persistent, rarely absent. Calyx usually gamosepalous, persistent, 4-5-lobed, lobes valvate or imbricate, sometimes spinescent or reduced to truncate or 10-15-dentate minute tube. Corolla gamopetalous, tube cylindrical or ventricose, the limb of 5, subequally spreading lobes or strongly 2-lipped; upper lip erect or suberect, entire or 2-fid rarely absent or fimbriate; the lower lip more spreading, 3-fid or 3-lobed, lobes imbricate or controrted. Stamens 4 and didynamous or 2, epipetalous, ascending below the upper lip; anthers dorsifixed, usually unequal in a stamen pair, dithecous or monothecous, thecae parallel, divergent or superposed, appendaged or bearded, longitudinally dehiscent; stamindodes 0-1-3. Ovary conical or oblong-cylindric, bicarpellate, syncarpous, superior, sessile or minutely stipitate, bilocular, placentation axile, rarely parietal, ovules 2-10 (-many) in each locule, in 1 or 2 vertical rows, rarely collateral, anatropous; style simple, filiform stigmas 1 or 2 minute. Fruits a bivalved, 2-loculed, clavate to elliptic-ovoid or oblong-cylindric, terete or compressed, usually ± stipitate capsule, elastically dehiscent from apex downwards, rarely drupaceous. Seeds mostly flattened and lenticular or discoid rarely globose or angular, borne on retinacula or papillae, testa smooth, rugose, echinate, tuberculate, glochidiate, appressed hairy or papillate, embryo with scanty or no endosperm.
Floral diagram
Key
1. Calyx
truncate or obscurely 10-16-toothed. Capsule globose below, abruptly beaked in
the upper part. Plants climbing or twining. [cultivated]
1. Calyx not
truncate, usually deeply 4-5-lobed . capsule oblong, ovoid or ellipsoid,
basally stipitate or not. Plants erect, prostrate to procumbent or straggling. [wild
or cultivated]
2. Corolla
one-lipped, the upper lip absent or rudimentary, indurated
2. Corolla
2-lipped or subequally 5-lobed, not indurated
3. Corolla
deeply to shallowly 2-lipped
4. Fertile
stamens 4
5. Bracts
spinescent or sharply acute
5. Bracts
not spinescent or sharply acute
6. Cystoliths
absent. Anthers monothecous, dorsally hairy. Seeds on papilliform funicles.
6. Cystoliths
present. Anthers dithecous; thecae equal, glabrous. Seeds on hooked retinacula
4. Fertile
stamens 2
7. Staminodes
present
8. Flowers
in axillary fascicles or terminal dense heads. Bracts leafy
8. Flowers
in terminal or axillary panicles. Bracts not leafy [cultivated]
7. Staminodes
absent
9. Bracts
partially united at the base, Capsule elastically dehiscent
Dicliptera
9. Bracts
free at the base. Capsules not elastically dehiscent
10. Flowers
mostly in trichotomously branched lax panicles of cymes
10. Flowers
mostly in congested spikes or panicles, sometimes solitary or in thyrsoid cymes
3. Corolla
subequally 5-lobed
11. Fertile
stamens 2. Staminodes 2
12. Calyx
4-lobed, lobes imbricate
12. Calyx
5-lobed, lobes valvate or contorted
13. Corolla
tube uniformly cylindrical, lobes contorted or twisted. Bracts small and
inconspicuous
13. Corolla
tube cylindrical below, ventricose above, lobes valvate. Bracts large and
conspicuous.[cultivated]
11. Fertile
stamens 4. Staminodes absent
14. Bracts
present
14. Bracts
present
15. Calyx
deeply 4-lobed, lobes clearly unequal, outer pair much larger than the inner.
Bracts ciliate or spinescent
15. Calyx
5-lobed, lobes equal or slightly unequal. Bracts neither ciliate nor spinescent
16. Bracts
4-ranked, imbricated
17. Stamens
included; anthers monothecous, sterile cell bearded throughout. Capsule
4-seeded. [cultivated]
17. Stamens
very slightly protruding; anthers dithecous, both thecae fertile, glabrous.
Capsule 6-20-seeded
16. Bracts
neither 4-ranked, imbricated
18. Corolla
lobes imbricate. Anther cells unequal. [cultivated]
18. Corolla
lobes twisted or contorted. Anther cells equal
19. Anthers
bristle-tipped and sagittate at the bases. Capsule 2 or 4-seeded, elastically
dehiscent
19. Anthers
neither bristle-tipped nor sagittate, basally muticous. Capsule 4-20-seeded,
not elastically dehiscent
20. Leaves
entire
21. Bracts inconspicuous,
usually linear, Capsule more than 8-seeded
21. Bracts
solitary, leafy. Capsule 4-8-seeded
20. Leaves
crenate or toothed
22. Ovary 8-
22. Ovary 4-8-ovuled.
Flowers in axillary or terminal, interrupted spikes or panicles or capitate
heads
Lower Taxa
!Acanthodium Delile
!Acanthus L.
Adhatoda Mill.
Aechmanthera Nees
Aphelandra R. Br.
Asteracantha Nees
!Asystasia Blume
Avicennia L.
!Barleria L.
Barleriacanthus Oerst.
Barlerites Oerst.
Beloperone Nees
!Blepharis Juss.
Crossandra Salisb.
Daedalacanthus T. Anderson = Eranthemum L.
!Dianthera L.
!!Dicliptera Juss.
Dipteracanthus Nees = Ruellia L.
!Eranthemum L.
Erianthera Nees
Gendarussa Nees
Graptophyllum Nees
Hemiadelphis Nees
Hemigraphis Nees
Hexacentris Nees
!Hygrophila R. Br.
!Jacobinia Moric.
!Justicia L.
!Lepidagathis Willd.
!Meyenia Nees
!Peristrophe Nees
Petalidium Nees
Pseudaechmanthera Bremek.
Pteracanthus (Nees) Bremek.
Rhaphidospora Nees
*Rostellaria Nees
Rostellularia Rchb.
!Ruellia L.
Sericographis Nees
!Strobilanthes Blume
!Thunbergia Retz.
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