Justicia gendarussa

Justicia gendarussa Burm. f., Fl. Indica 10. 1768; Fl. Ind. 1:129.1820; Clarke in Hook. f., Fl. Brit. Ind. 4: 532.1885; Parker, For. Fl. Punj. ed. 1: 393. 1918 (Reprint 1973); ed. 3: 390. 1956; Maheshwari, Fl. Delhi 270. 1963; Fl. China @ eFloras.org 19: 457; Malik & Ghafoor, Fl. Pak. @ eFloras.org p. 43; Ecbolium gendarussa (Burm. f.) Kuntze, Revis. Gen. Pl. 2:487. 1891; Gendarussa vulgaris Nees, Pl. Asiat. Rar.3: 104. 1832.

An undershrub, 60-150 cm tall, much branched. Stem subterete, swollen at nodes, glabrous, twigs dark purple. Leaves opposite, simple; petioles 3-10 mm long; leaf blade narrowly lanceolate, 6-10 cm x 1-2 cm, glabrous, secondary veins 5-8 on each side of mid vein, veins dark purple, base cuneate to attenuate, margin subsinuate, apex acute to acuminate. Inflorescence terminal or axillary spikes or panicle of spikes, 3-12 cm long, +/- 1.5 cm across (panicle continuous or interrupted, usually in a leafy panicle). Flowers bisexual, zygomorphic, hypogynous, subsessile, white with purple streaks and spots inside, 1.6-2.0 cm long; bracts triangular or lanceolate, 2-6 mm x 1-2.5 mm (basal one longer than calyx, then gradually smaller with apical most ones shorter than calyx), margin ciliate, apex acute; bracteoles elliptic to linear-lanceolate, ca. 3 mm x 1 mm, margin ciliate, apex acute. Calyx ca. 5 mm long, 5-lobed; tube very short; lobes linear-lanceolate, 2-5 mm x 0.5 mm, subequal, apex acuminate. Corolla tubular-funnelform, creamy white, 1.2-1.5 cm long; tube 8-10 mm long, lower half, narrow cylindric and ca. 2 mm broad, upper half inflated, glabrous; limb 2-lipped: lower lip 3-lobed, 6-10 mm broad, cuneate-obovate, spreading, with 2 lines of oblique bars with purple spots on inner side, lobes 3-5 mm x ca. 3.5 mm, oblanceolate; upper lip ca. 7 mm x 3.5 mm, shallowly 2-lobed, triangular, violet-blotched. Stamens 2, exserted; filaments 3-6 mm long, glabrous; anthers bithecous, thecae oblong, ca. 2 mm long, superposed, unequal, lower one spurred at base, upper one muticous (without spur). Carpels 2, syncarpous; ovary ca. 3 mm long, oblong-cylindric, glabrous, 2-locular with 2 ovules per loculus, placentation axile; style filiform, ca. 1 cm long, puberulous; stigma capitate, shortly 2-lobed.

Capsule clavate, ca. 1.2 cm long, glabrous, 4-seeded. (Fruits not observed)

Flowering and Fruiting: December to May
Common Names: Willow-leaf Justicia, Asian Water-Willow; Nili Nargandi, Kala Bashimb, Kala Adulsa (Hindi)