General: Erect perennial forb from a woody caudex, 30–50 cm; sparsely pubescent with flexuous trichomes about 2.5 mm long, sometimes with dense understory of straight trichomes and glands. Leaves: Opposite, petiolate, ovate to broadly ovate 10–17 cm long, long attenuate to truncate–attentuate at base, rounded to subacute at apex, margin undulate–crisped, surfaces pubescent. Flowers: Tubular, purple, slightly irregular, 3 cm long, in loose, open terminal panicles; corolla 30–50 mm long, lobes 10–12 mm long. Fruits: Capsule ellipsoid, 12–22 mm long, glandular. Ecology: Found in sandy washes and ditches, in desert scrub and desert grassland from 1,500–4,500 ft (457–1372 m); flowers April–September. Distribution: Ranges from Arizona to Louisiana, south through much of Mexico and Central America to Costa Rica. Notes: Note the ovate leaves, quite unlike the other species in Acanthaceae in our area, which are generally more lanceolate. Ethnobotany: Unknown Etymology: Ruellia is named after Jean Ruelle, a French botanist (1474–1537), while nudiflora means bare flower. Sources: Wiggins 1964, Daniel 1984, Kearney and Peebles 1969 

Duration: Perennial

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Subshrub

General: Erect perennial forb from a woody caudex, 30-50 cm; sparsely pubescent with flexuous trichomes about 2.5 mm long, sometimes with dense understory of straight trichomes and glands.

Leaves: Opposite, petiolate, ovate to broadly ovate 10-17 cm long, long attenuate to truncate-attentuate at base, rounded to subacute at apex, margin undulate-crisped, surfaces pubescent.

Flowers: Tubular, purple, slightly irregular, 3 cm long, in loose, open terminal panicles; corolla 30-50 mm long, lobes 10-12 mm long.

Fruits: Capsule ellipsoid, 12-22 mm long, glandular.

Ecology: Found in sandy washes and ditches:, in desert scrub and desert grassland from 1,500-4,500 ft (457-1372 m); flowers April-September.

Distribution: Ranges from Arizona to Louisiana, south through much of Mexico and Central America to Costa Rica.

Notes: Distinguished by the broad, opposite ovate leaves with defined veins, quite unlike the other species in Acanthaceae in our area, which are generally more lanceolate; the purple tubular flws, stipitate glandular calyces and explosively dehiscent capsules.

Ethnobotany: Unknown

Etymology: Ruellia is named after Jean Ruelle, a French botanist (1474-1537), while n udiflora means bare flower.

Synonyms: None

Editor: SBuckley 2010, FSCoburn 2015