Justicia oldemanii
Content
Description
Herb or creeping herb, 10-30 cm tall. Root yellowish. Stem ascending or prostrate, quadrangular, pilose. Petiole short, 0.5-1 cm long, densely sericeous; blade firm, elliptic to narrowly ovate, 10-15 x 2.8-5.6 cm, entire or undulate, acute to acuminate or short-acuminate at apex, attenuate at base, upper surface dark green when dry, lower surface yellowish green when dry, both surfaces sericeous, especially on veination; primary and secondary veins (8-10 pairs) obscure on upper surface, prominent on lower surface. Inflorescence terminal and axillary spikes, spikes densely bracteate, usually paired, 3-9 cm long; peduncle short, subquadrangular, 3-6 cm long, glabrate or sparingly puberulous; rachis subquadrangular, glabrate or sparingly puberulous; bract green heteromorphic, larger bract apically purplish, densely imbricate, obovate to suborbicular, 9-13 x 5-9 mm, apiculate at apex, abruptly narrowed and cuneate at base, thin, primary and secondary veins prominent, both surfaces pubescent, margin ciliate; sterile bract greatly reduced, linear, 9-11 x 0.8-1 mm, pilose; bracteoles linear, 10-14 x 0.5-0.75 mm, long-aristate at apex, long-pilosulous. Flowers sessile to subsessile; calyx 5-lobed, 6.5-8 mm long, lobes equal, hyaline, linear-lanceolate, 6-7.5 x 0.5 mm, aristate with a tuft of trichomes at apex; corolla white to pinkish, 10-14 mm long, glabrous except sparingly puberulous limb, tube cylindrical, 7-10 mm long, 1-1.5 mm in diam. at base, enlarged to 1.5-2 mm at 1-2 mm above base, then slightly constricted, 2-2.5 mm wide at mouth, upper lip erect, narrowly ovate, 3 x 2 mm, obtuse to retuse at apex, lower lip erect or spreading, 3-5 mm long, lobes 2 x 1.75-2 mm, all obovate and apically rounded; stamens exserted 3 mm beyond mouth of corolla tube, anther thecae superposed, subequal, vertically attached to connective, lower theca inconspicuously apiculate, filaments to flattened; pistil ± equaling stamens, stigma 2-lobed, minute, rounded. Capsule clavate, 9-10 x 3 x 2 mm, glabrous; seeds dark reddish brown, lenticular to subspheric, 3 x 2 x 1 mm, surface and margin covered with knoblike papillae.