General: Perennial, ascending to erect herb to 80 cm tall, stems branching, glabrous or sparingly puberulous about nodes, hairs curved. Leaves: Petioles to 2 cm long, blades lanceolate to lance–oblong or ovate to 8 cm long, blunt tip, narrowed at base, glabrous or nearly so, inconspicuously ciliolate. Flowers: Peduncles short or elongate, bibracteate at apex, 3–5–branched, branches to 3 cm long; involucral bracts cordate, deltoid–subcordate, or rarely round–obovate to 7 mm long and 8 mm wide, rounded or obtuse at apex, often emarginated, sometimes subapiculate, very flat, veiny, glabrous or nearly so; corolla purple with darker purple dots about 1.5 cm long, lips obovate. Fruits: Capsules about 5 mm long, glabrous, flat. Ecology: Found on dry wooded slopes or flats from 3,000–6,000 ft (914–1829 m); flowers September–May. Distribution: Ranges from the southwestern United States through western and west–central Mexico to the state of Guerrero. Notes: With age the plants are usually leafless and the bracts become papery and white. Ethnobotany: Unknown Etymology: Dicliptera is from Greek referring to two folded wings, while resupinata means upside down due to twisting of the pedicel. Sources: Wiggins 1964, Daniel 1984, Kearney and Peebles 1969 

Duration: Perennial

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Forb/Herb

General: Herbaceous perennial, ascending to erect and often bushy, to 80 cm tall; stems branching, glabrous or sparingly puberulous around nodes, hairs curved.

Leaves: Opposite and petiolate; petioles to 2 cm long; blades lanceolate to lance-oblong or ovate, to 8 cm long with a blunt tip, narrowed at base, glabrous or nearly so, inconspicuously ciliolate at margins.

Flowers: Umbels in leaf axils; peduncles short or elongate, branching into 3-5 pedicels, each topped with a single purple flower; involucral bracts cordate to round-obovate, to 7 mm long and 8 mm wide, very flat, veiny, glabrous or nearly so; corolla bilabiate, purple with darker purple dots, about 1.5 cm long, lips obovate.

Fruits: Capsules about 5 mm long, glabrous, flat, obovoid, with 4 seeds.

Ecology: Found on dry wooded slopes or flats from 3,000-6,000 ft (914-1829 m); flowers September-May.

Distribution: sw US through w and wc Mexico to the state of Guerrero.

Notes: Uncommon in the US; range extends into Mexico. Distinct due to showy, purple, 2-lipped flowers in the leaf axils, each flower subtended by a pair of heart-shaped bracts. With age the plants are usually leafless and the bracts cling to the plant, becoming papery, white and conspicuous.

Ethnobotany: Unknown, but other species in the genus have uses.

Etymology: Dicliptera is from Greek referring to two folded wings, while resupinata means upside down due to twisting of the pedicel.

Synonyms: Diapedium resupinatum, Diapedium torreyi, Dicliptera pseudoverticillaris, Dicliptera torreyi, Justicia resupinata

Editor: SBuckley 2010, FSCoburn 2015, AHazelton 2015