Acanthaceae

Ruellia Plum. ex L.

First published in Sp. Pl.: 634 (1753)
This genus is accepted
The native range of this genus is Tropics & Subtropics to N. America.

Distribution

Native to:

Alabama, Aldabra, Andaman Is., Angola, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Arizona, Arkansas, Aruba, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Borneo, Botswana, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Burkina, Burundi, Cabinda, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Provinces, Caprivi Strip, Cayman Is., Central African Republic, Chad, China South-Central, China Southeast, Christmas I., Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Cuba, Delaware, District of Columbia, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, DR Congo, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Florida, Free State, French Guiana, Gabon, Galápagos, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Gulf of Guinea Is., Guyana, Hainan, Haiti, Honduras, Illinois, India, Indiana, Iowa, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jawa, Kansas, Kentucky, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Laccadive Is., Laos, Leeward Is., Liberia, Louisiana, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaya, Mali, Maryland, Mauritania, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nebraska, Nepal, Netherlands Antilles, New Caledonia, New Guinea, New Jersey, New Mexico, New South Wales, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North Carolina, Northern Provinces, Northern Territory, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oman, Pakistan, Panamá, Paraguay, Pennsylvania, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Queensland, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Socotra, Solomon Is., Somalia, South Australia, South Carolina, Southwest Caribbean, Sri Lanka, Sudan-South Sudan, Sulawesi, Suriname, Taiwan, Tanzania, Tennessee, Texas, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad-Tobago, Turks-Caicos Is., Uganda, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Venezuelan Antilles, Vietnam, Virginia, Wallis-Futuna Is., West Himalaya, West Virginia, Western Australia, Windward Is., Wisconsin, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Introduced into:

Assam, Bermuda, Caroline Is., Cook Is., Fiji, Gambia, Gulf States, Hawaii, Lesser Sunda Is., Marianas, Marshall Is., Mauritius, Nauru, New York, Nicobar Is., Réunion, Samoa, Seychelles, Sicilia, South China Sea, Tokelau-Manihiki

Synonyms

Heterotypic Synonyms

Accepted Species

Classification

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Publications

POWO follows these authorities in accepting this name:

  • (2017). https://doi.org/10.1600/036364417X695961. epublication.
  • Tripp, E.A. & McDade, L.A. (2012). New synonymies for Ruellia (Acanthaceae) of Costa Rica and notes on other neotropical species. Brittonia 64: 305-317. New York Botanical Garden.

Flora of West Tropical Africa

  • —F.T.A. 5: 44.

Flora Zambesiaca

  • L., Sp. Pl.: 634 (1753).

Flora of Somalia

  • Flora Somalia, (2000) Author: by M. Hedrén [updated by M. Thulin 2008]

Flora of Tropical East Africa

  • DC., Prodr. 11: 143 (1847)
  • F.T.A. 5: 44 (1899)
  • G.P. 2: 1077 (1876)
  • Sp. Pl.: 634 (1753)

Other Data

Other Kew resources that provide information on this taxon:

Sources

  • EBC Common Names

    • Common Names from Kew's Economic Botany Collection https://www.kew.org/science/collections-and-resources/collections/economic-botany-collection

  • Flora Zambesiaca

    • Flora Zambesiaca
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora of Somalia

    • Flora of Somalia
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

    • Flora of Tropical East Africa
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora of the Cayman Islands

    • Flora of the Cayman Islands
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2026. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2026. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    • Copyright applied to individual images