Ruellia

{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}} {{Automatic taxobox |image = Wayside Tuberose -Ruella tuberosa- flower in Hyderabad, AP W IMG 6628.jpg |image_caption = ''Ruellia tuberosa'' |display_parents = 2 |taxon = Ruellia |authority = L.<ref name="GRIN">{{cite web |url=http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?10578 |title=Genus: ''Ruellia'' L. |work=Germplasm Resources Information Network |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture |date=2009-01-23 |access-date=2010-05-26}}</ref> |subdivision_ranks = Species |subdivision = Many, see text | synonyms = {{collapsible list | *''Alvarezia'' Pav. ex Nees *''Aphragmia'' Nees *''Aporuellia'' C.B.Clarke *''Arrhostoxylum'' Mart. ex Nees *''Benoicanthus'' Heine A.Raynal *''Blechum'' P.Browne *''Copioglossa'' Miers *''Cryphiacanthus'' Nees *''Cyrtacanthus'' Mart. ex Nees *''Dipteracanthus'' Nees *''Dizygandra'' Meisn. *''Endosiphon'' T.Anderson ex Benth. Hook.f. *''Eurychanes'' Nees *''Eusiphon'' Benoist *''Fabria'' E.Mey. *''Gymnacanthus'' Nees *''Gymnacanthus'' Oerst. *''Holtzendorffia'' Klotzsch H.Karst. ex Nees *''Larysacanthus'' Oerst. *''Lychniothyrsus'' Lindau *''Micraea'' Miers *''Neowedia'' Schrad. *''Nothoruellia'' Bremek. Nann.-Bremek. *''Ophthalmacanthus'' Nees *''Pattersonia'' J.F.Gmel. *''Pentstemonacanthus'' Nees *''Pseudoruellia'' Benoist *''Salpingacanthus'' S.Moore *''Sclerocalyx'' Nees *''Scorodoxylum'' Nees *''Siphonacanthus'' Nees *''Solaenacanthus'' Oerst. *''Spirostigma'' Nees *''Stemonacanthus'' Nees *''Stenoschista'' Bremek. *''Stephanophysum'' Pohl *''Tacoanthus'' Baill. *''Tremacanthus'' S.Moore *''Ulleria'' {{small|Bremek.}} }} |synonyms_ref =<ref name = powo>{{cite POWO |id=326011-2 |title=''Ruellia'' Plum. ex L. |access-date=9 March 2024}}</ref> }}

'''''Ruellia''''' is a genus of flowering plants commonly known as '''ruellias''' or '''wild petunias'''.<ref name="ITIS">{{ITIS |id=34371 |taxon=''Ruellia'' |access-date=2011-05-20}}</ref> They are not closely related to petunias (''Petunia'') although both genera belong to the same euasterid clade. The genus was named in honor of Jean Ruelle (1474–1537), herbalist and physician to Francis I of France and translator of several works of Dioscorides.<ref>{{cite book | last=Burkhardt | first=Lotte | title=Verzeichnis eponymischer Pflanzennamen – Erweiterte Edition |trans-title=Index of Eponymic Plant Names – Extended Edition | publisher=Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität Berlin | year=2018 | isbn=978-3-946292-26-5 | url=https://doi.org/10.3372/epolist2018 |format=pdf |language=German |location=Berlin | doi=10.3372/epolist2018 |access-date=1 January 2021}}</ref>

Numerous formerly independent genera are nowadays considered synonymous with ''Ruellia'', including ''Blechum'', ''Eusiphon'', and ''Ulleria''.<ref name = powo/> ''Acanthopale'' and ''Polylychnis'' are considered a distinct genera.

Ruellias are popular ornamental plants. Some are used as medicinal plants, but many are known or suspected to be poisonous. Their leaves are food for the caterpillars of several Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), typically Nymphalinae and in particular members of their tribe Junoniini, such as the larvae of the banded peacock (''Anartia fatima''). Nymphalinae using ''Ruellia'' as host plants include the common buckeye (''Junonia coenia''), recorded on ''R. nodiflora'', the lemon pansy (''Junonia lemonias''), recorded on ''R. tuberosa'', and the malachite butterfly (''Siproeta stelenes'') and Australian lurcher (''Yoma sabina''), which are recorded on several species. [[File:Ruellia elegans in Kadavoor.jpg|thumb|right|''Ruellia elegans'']] [[File:Ruellia prostrata in Talakona forest, AP W IMG 8317.jpg|thumb|Bell weed (''Ruellia prostrata'')]] [[File:Gardenology.org-IMG 3026 rbgs11jan.jpg|thumb|''Ruellia dipteracanthus'']]

==Selected species== 365 species are accepted.<ref name = powo/> They include: {{div col}} * ''Ruellia acutangula'' {{small|Nees}} * ''Ruellia affinis'' (Schrad.) T.Anderson * ''Ruellia angustior'' {{small|(Nees) Lindau}} * ''Ruellia asperula'' {{small|(Mart. & Nees) Lindau}} * ''Ruellia bahiensis'' {{small|(Nees) Morong}} * ''Ruellia blechum'' L. * ''Ruellia blumei'' Steud. * ''Ruellia bourgaei'' Hemsl. * ''Ruellia brevifolia'' (Pohl) C.Ezcurra – tropical wild petunia, red Christmas pride * ''Ruellia californica'' {{small|(Vasey & Rose) I.M.Johnst.}} * ''Ruellia caroliniensis'' (J.F.Gmel.) Steud. * ''Ruellia chartacea'' (T.Anderson) Wassh. * ''Ruellia ciliatiflora'' Hook. * ''Ruellia currorii'' {{small|T.Anderson}} * ''Ruellia densa'' {{small|Hiern}} * ''Ruellia devosiana'' Jacob-Makoy ex E.Morren * ''Ruellia dielsii'' {{small|Mildbr.}} * ''Ruellia dioscoridis'' {{small|Napper}} * ''Ruellia dissitifolia'' {{small|(Nees) Hiern}} * ''Ruellia drummondiana'' (Nees) A.Gray * ''Ruellia elegans'' Poir. * ''Ruellia eurycodon'' {{small|Lindau}} * ''Ruellia fulgida'' Andrews * ''Ruellia geminiflora'' {{small|Kunth}} – ''ipecacuanha-da-flor-roxa'' (Portuguese) * ''Ruellia hapalotricha'' {{small|Lindau}} * ''Ruellia helianthema'' {{small|(Nees) Profice}} * ''Ruellia humilis'' Nutt. – fringeleaf wild petunia, plains petunia, fringeleaf ruellia, hairy ruellia, low ruellia, zigzag ruel * ''Ruellia hypericoides'' {{small|(Nees) Lindau}} * ''Ruellia incomta'' {{small|(Nees) Lindau}} * ''Ruellia inundata'' {{small|Kunth}} * ''Ruellia insignis'' {{small|Balf.f.}} * ''Ruellia jaliscana'' Standl. * ''Ruellia jussieuoides'' {{small|Schltdl. & Cham.}} * ''Ruellia kuriensis'' {{small|Vierh.}} * ''Ruellia macrantha'' (Nees) Gower – Christmas pride * ''Ruellia macrophylla'' Vahl * ''Ruellia makoyana'' Hort.Makoy ex Closon * ''Ruellia mcvaughii'' T.F.Daniel * ''Ruellia menthoides'' {{small|(Nees) Hiern}} *''Ruellia metziae'' {{small|Tharp}} * ''Ruellia multifolia'' {{small|(Nees) Lindau}} * ''Ruellia nitens'' {{small|(Nees) Wassh.}} * ''Ruellia noctiflora'' {{small|(Nees) A.Gray}} * ''Ruellia novogaliciana'' T.F. Daniel * ''Ruellia nudiflora'' (Engelm. & A.Gray) Urb. * ''Ruellia patula'' {{small|Jacq.}} * ''Ruellia paulayana'' {{small|Vierh.}} * ''Ruellia pedunculata'' {{small|Torr. ex A.Gray}} * ''Ruellia prostrata'' Poir. * ''Ruellia rasa'' {{small|Hiern}} * ''Ruellia rosea'' (Nees) Hemsl. * ''Ruellia rufipila'' {{small|Rizzini}} * ''Ruellia simplex'' C.Wright * ''Ruellia spissa'' Leonard * ''Ruellia stemonacanthoides'' (Oerst.) Hemsl. * ''Ruellia strepens'' L. * ''Ruellia trachyphylla'' {{small|Lindau}} * ''Ruellia tuberosa'' L. – minnie root, fever root, snapdragon root, sheep potato, popping pod, duppy gun, cracker plant (syn. ''R. picta'') * ''Ruellia verbasciformis'' {{small|(Nees) C.Ezcurra & Zappi}} * ''Ruellia villosa'' {{small|(Nees) Lindau}} {{div col end}}

===Uncertain status=== * ''Ruellia brevicaulis'' {{small|(Nees) Lindau}} (synonym ''Dipteracanthus brevicaulis'' {{small|Nees}}) – Unplaced * ''Ruellia eriocalyx'' {{small|Glaz.}} * ''Ruellia flava'' {{small|Pers.}} – Unplaced * ''Ruellia pohlii'' (synonym ''Dipteracanthus pohlii'' {{small|Nees}}) – Unplaced * ''Ruellia stenandrium''

===Formerly placed here=== Numerous plants, mainly in the family Acanthaceae, are former members of ''Ruellia''. Some examples are: *''Asystasia gangetica'' subsp. ''micrantha'' (Nees) Ensermu (as ''R. intrusa'' Forssk.) *''Asystasia gangetica'' subsp. ''gangetica'' (as ''R. zeylanica'' J.Koenig ex Roxb.) *''Blepharis ciliaris'' (L.) B.L.Burtt (as ''R. ciliaris'' L. or ''R. persica'' Burm.f.) *''Dyschoriste oblongifolia'' (Michx.) Kuntze (as ''R. oblongifolia'' Michx.) *''Hemigraphis repanda'' (L.) Hallier f. (as ''R. repanda'' L.) *''Hygrophila costata'' Nees et al. (as ''R. brasiliensis'' Spreng.) *''Hygrophila difformis'' (L.f.) Blume (as ''R. difformis'' L. f.) *''Hygrophila lacustris'' (Schltdl. & Cham.) Nees (as ''R. lacustris'' Schltdl. & Cham.) *''Hygrophila ringens'' (L.) R. Br. ex Steud. (as ''R. ringens'' L. or ''R. salicifolia'' Vahl) *''Lepidagathis alopecuroidea'' (Vahl) R. Br. ex Griseb. (as ''R. alopecuroidea'' Vahl) *''Lindernia antipoda'' (L.) Alston (as ''R. antipoda'' L.) *''Mackaya neesiana'' {{small|(Wall.) Das}} (as ''R. neesiana'' {{small|Wall.}}) *''Stenandrium dulce'' (Cav.) Nees (as ''R. dulcis'' Cav.) *''Strobilanthes anisophylla'' (Lodd. et al.) T. Anderson (as ''R. anisophylla'' Lodd. et al.) *''Strobilanthes hamiltoniana'' (Steud.) Bosser & Heine (as ''R. hamiltoniana'' Steud.)<ref name="GRINSpecies">{{cite web |url=http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?10578 |title=GRIN Species Records of ''Ruellia'' |work=Germplasm Resources Information Network |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture |access-date=2011-05-20}}</ref> *''Strobilanthes tomentosa'' {{small|(Nees) J.R.I.Wood}} (as ''R. tomentosa'' {{small|Wall.}}) *''Teliostachya alopecuroidea'' Nees (as ''R. alopecuroidea'', ''R. alopecuroides'')

==See also== * 21540 Itthipanyanan, an asteroid named after a student who authored an award-winning experiment<ref name=JPL_Itthi>{{cite web|title=21540 Itthipanyanan (1998 QE11)|url=http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=21540|work=JPL Small-Body Database|publisher=Jet Propulsion Laboratory|access-date=6 April 2013}}</ref> on the dehiscence and dispersion of ''Ruellia tuberosa'' seed pods.

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{commons category}} {{Wikispecies|Ruellia (Acanthaceae)|''Ruellia''}} {{Americana Poster|year=1920}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20110605040027/http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?24176 Germplasm Resources Information Network: ''Copioglossa''] *[http://www.plantsystematics.org/cgi-bin/dol/dol_terminal.pl?taxon_name=Ruellia&rank=genus PlantSystematics: ''Ruellia''] *[http://tolweb.org/Ruellia_s._l./65583: Tree of Life: ''Ruellia''.]

Category:Ruellia Category:Acanthaceae genera Category:Pantropical flora