Torenia L., Sp. Pl. 2: 619. 1753; Fl. China @ eFloras.org 18: 37; Fl. North Amer. @ eFloras.org 17: 357; Philcox, Fl. Zambesiaca 8: 2. 1990.

Annual or perennial herbs, erect, ascending or decumbent, glabrous or villous, rarely hispidulous. Leaves opposite, usually petiolate, entire or variously toothed. Flowers solitary axillary, or in axillary or terminal racemes, or umbellate fascicles. Flowers zygomorphic, bisexual, hypogynous, pedicellate, bracteate, ebracteolate. Sepals 5, connate half length, calyx bilaterally to radially symmetric, tubular, ellipsoid, 3-5-lobed or 2-lipped, winged, lips triangular-ovate. Corolla 2-lipped, both lips nearly equal; lower lip shallowly or deeply 3- lobed, lobes subequal; upper lip erect, apex entire, emarginate or 2-lobed. Stamens 4, perfect, didynamous; posterior pair smaller, included, filaments filiform; anterior pair attached to throat of corolla tube; filaments arched, connivent under upper lip, each with small appendage at base; anthers usually cohering in pairs. Ovary apically usually with short coarse hairs; style apically with bilobed stigma. Capsule oblong, included in persistent calyx, septicidal. Seeds numerous, small, scrobiculate.

69 species

Torenia fournieri Linden ex Fournier, III. Hort. 23: 129, t. 249. 1876; Fl. China @ eFloras.org 18: 39; Fl. North Amer. @ eFloras.org 17: 357.

Annual herbs, 15-30 cm tall. Stems erect, quadrangular, simple or branched above middle, pubescent. Leaves opposite; petiole 1-2 cm long, sparsely pubescent, with a dorsal adaxial groove; leaf blade ovate, 3-5 cm x 1.5-2.8 cm, adaxially glabrous, abaxially sparsely pubescent, especially on veins, margin coarsely serrate and ciliate, apex acute, base round or truncate. Inflorescence terminal racemes with few flowers; bracts linear, ca. 7 mm x 1 mm, pubescent. Flowers bisexual, zygomorphic, hypogynous, pink, white, purple, lavender, blue, 3-4 cm x ca. 2 cm; pedicel 8-10 mm long becoming longer in fruit up to 2.4 cm, pubescent. Calyx persistent, ellipsoid, 1.3-1.9 cm x ca. 8 mm, green, 5-winged, wings ciliate, ca. 2 mm wide, becoming 3 mm wide in fruit; 2-lipped, lips subtriangular, entire, sometimes lobed. Petals 5, fused; corolla 3-4 cm x ca. 2 cm, trumpet-shaped, blue purple-blue or pink; tube pale violet, lower part yellow; limb 2- lipped, lower lip larger, 3-lobed, lobes unequal, middle lobe with a yellow patch near base, oblong to suborbicular, ca. 10 mm x 8 mm, upper lip erect, pale blue, broadly obovate, 1-1.2 cm x 1.2-1.5 cm, 2-lobed. Stamens 4, fertile, in 2 pairs, didynamous; posterior pair included, filaments 3-4 mm, anthers 5-6 mm long; anterior pair exserted, inserted in the throat of corolla limb, filaments 8-10 mm long, anthers 4 mm long; anthers of both pairs joined at their tips so as to give wishbone shape to stamen-pairs, anthers pull apart after pollination; dehiscence of anthers by longitudinal slits. Carpels 2, syncarpous; ovary ca. 5 mm long, 2-locular, ovules many in each loculus, placentation axile; style ca. 1.6 cm long; stigma bilobed, lobes rhomboid.

Capsule narrowly ellipsoid, ca. 12 mm x 0.5 mm. Seeds yellow, ca. 0.5 x 0.4 mm. (Fruits not observed)

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