Acanthaceae
Ruellia

Ruellia tuberosa L.

First published in Sp. Pl.: 635 (1753)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Mexico to N. South America and Peru, Caribbean. It is a tuberous geophyte and grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome. It is used to treat digestive system disorders and unspecified medicinal disorders, as a medicine, has environmental uses and for food.

Distribution

Native to:

Aruba, Bahamas, Cayman Is., Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Leeward Is., Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Netherlands Antilles, Peru, Puerto Rico, Southwest Caribbean, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago, Turks-Caicos Is., Venezuela, Venezuelan Antilles, Windward Is.

Introduced into:

Andaman Is., Assam, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China South-Central, India, Kenya, Laos, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Myanmar, Nepal, New Caledonia, Nicobar Is., Pakistan, Panamá, Samoa, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Sudan-South Sudan, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Vietnam

Synonyms

Homotypic Synonyms

Heterotypic Synonyms

Classification

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Publications

POWO follows these authorities in accepting this name:

  • Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1-1192.
  • Balkrishna, A. (2018). Flora of Morni Hills (Research & Possibilities): 1-581. Divya Yoga Mandir Trust.
  • Barooah, C. & Ahmed, I. (2014). Plant diversity of Assam. A checklist of Angiosperms and Gymnosperms: 1-599. Assam science technology and environment council, India.
  • Boggan, J. Funck, V. & Kelloff, C. (1997). Checklist of the Plants of the Guianas (Guyana, Surinam, Franch Guiana) ed. 2: 1-238. University of Guyana, Georgetown.
  • Brako, L. & Zarucchi, J.L. (1993). Catalogue of the Flowering Plants and Gymnosperms of Peru. Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 45: i-xl, 1-1286. Missouri Botanical Garden.
  • Castle, G.E. (1994). Flore des Seychelles Dicotylédones: 1-663. Orstom Editions.
  • Correa A., Mireya D. Galdames, Carmen Correa A., M. D., C. Galdames & M. S. de Stapf (2004). Catálogo de las Plantas Vasculares de Panamá: 1-599. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.
  • Darbyshire, I., Kordofani, M., Farag, I., Candiga, R. & Pickering, H. (eds.) (2015). The Plants of Sudan and South Sudan: 1-400. Kew publishing, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  • Dassanayake (ed.) (1998). A Revised Handbook to the Flora of Ceylon 12: 1-390. Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. PVT. LTD., New Delhi, Calcutta.
  • Deng, Y.F., Li, Z.Y., Wang, Q. & Peng, H. (2020). Flora of Pan-Himalaya 46: 1-570. Science Press, Beijing. Cambridge University Press.
  • Dy Phon, P. (2000). Dictionnaire des plantes utilisées au Cambodge: 1-915. Chez l'auteur, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
  • Girmansyah, D. & al. (eds.) (2013). Flora of Bali an annotated checklist: 1-158. Herbarium Bogorensis, Indonesia.
  • Gonzalez, F., Nelson Diaz, J. & Lowry, P. (1995). Flora Illustrada de San Andrés y Providencia: 1-281. Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Colombia.
  • Hara, H., Stearn, W.T. & Williams, H.J. (1982). An Enumeration of the Flowering Plants of Nepal 3: 1-226. Trustees of British Museum, London.
  • Heine, H. (1976). Flore de la Nouvelle-Calédonie et Dépendances 7: 1-212. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris.
  • Hokche, O., Berry, P.E. & Huber, O. (eds.) (2008). Nuevo Catálogo de la Flora Vascular de Venezuela: 1-859. Fundación Instituto Botánico de Venezuela.
  • Idárraga-Piedrahita, A., Ortiz, R.D.C., Callejas Posada, R. & Merello, M. (eds.) (2011). Flora de Antioquia: Catálogo de las Plantas Vasculares 2: 1-939. Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín.
  • Kotiya, A., Solanki, Y. & Reddy, G.V. (2020). Flora of Rajasthan: 1-769. Rajasthan state biodiversity board.
  • Kress, W.J., DeFilipps, R.A., Farr, E. & Kyi, D.Y.Y. (2003). A Checklist of the Trees, Shrubs, Herbs and Climbers of Myanmar. Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 45: 1-590. Smithsonian Institution.
  • Kuo, M.L. (ed.) (2012). Flora of Taiwan, ed. 2, Suppl.: 1-414. Editorial Committee of the Flora of Taiwan, Second Edition, National Taiwan University.
  • Lê, T.C. (2005). Danh lục các loài thực vật Việt Nam 3: 1-1248. Hà Nội : Nhà xuất bản Nông nghiệp.
  • MacKee, H.S. (1994). Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie, ed. 2: 1-164. Museum national d'histoire naturelle, Paris.
  • Malik, K.A. & Ghafoor, A. (1988). Flora of Pakistan 188: 1-79. Department of Botany, University of Karachi, Karachi.
  • Meena, S.L. (2012). A checklist of the vascular plants of Banaskantha district, Gujarat, India. Nelumbo 54: 39-91.
  • Murugan, C., Singh, L.J., Prabhu, S. & Sathiyaseelan, R. (2014). The genus Ruellia L. (Acanthaceae) in Andaman and Nicobar islands. Indian Journal of Forestry 37: 425-428.
  • Nelson Sutherland, C.H. (2008). Catálogo de las plantes vasculares de Honduras. Espermatofitas: 1-1576. SERNA/Guaymuras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
  • Pasha, M.K. & Uddin, S.B. (2013). Dictionary of plant names of Bangladesh, Vasc. Pl.: 1-434. Janokalyan Prokashani, Chittagong, Bangladesh.
  • Prakash, L. & Balasubramanian, P. (2018). Invasive alien flora of Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve in Southern Eastern Ghats, India. Indian Forester 144: 857-862.
  • Rajbhandari, K.R., Rai, S.K. & Chhetri, R. (2022). A Handbook of the Flowering Plants of Nepal 4: 1-522. Department of Plant Resources, Thapathali, Kathmandu, Nepal.
  • Singh, A. (2012). Exotic flora of the Chandauli district Uttar Pradesh, India: an overview. Indian Journal of Forestry 35: 79-84.
  • Turner, I.M. (1995). A catalogue of the Vascular Plants of Malaya. Gardens' Bulletin Singapore 47(1): 1-346.
  • Vikraman, R/R/, Pandurangan, A.G. & Thulasidas, G. (2008). A study on the garden escaped exotics of Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala. Journal of East African Natural History 32: 765-781.
  • Villaseñor, J.L. (2016). Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad 87: 559-902.
  • Vollesen, K. (2008). Flora of Tropical East Africa, Acanthaceae(1): 1-285.
  • Whistler, W.A. (2022). Flora of Samoa Flowering Plants: 1-930. National Tropical Botanicl Garden. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
  • Wu, Z. & Raven, P.H. (eds.) (2011). Flora of China 19: 1-884. Science Press (Beijing) & Missouri Botanical Garden Press (St. Louis).

Flora of the Cayman Islands

  • L., Sp. Pl. 2: 635 (1753).

Catálogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia

  • Bernal, R., Gradstein, S.R. & Celis, M. (eds.). 2015. Catálogo de plantas y líquenes de Colombia. Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá. http://catalogoplantasdecolombia.unal.edu.co

Useful Plants of Boyacá Project

  • Correa Q., J.E. & Bernal H.Y. (1989). Especies vegetales promisorias de los paises del Convenio Andres Bello Tomo I. Secretaría Ejecutiva del Convenio Andres Bello (SECAB). Bogotá, Colombia.
  • Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humbodlt (2014). Plantas alimenticias y medicinales nativas de Colombia. 2567 registros, aportados por: Castellanos, C. (Contacto del recurso), Valderrama, N. (Creador del recurso, Autor), Castro, C. (Proveedor de metadatos), Bernal, Y. (Autor), García, N. (Autor). Versión 11.0. http://i2d.humboldt.org.co/ceiba/resource.do?r=ls_colombia_magnoliophyta_2014
  • Kew Medicinal Plant Names Services (MPNS) https://www.kew.org/science/data-and-resources/tools-and-services/medicinal-plant-names-services in The State of the World’s Plants Report–2016. (2016). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew https://stateoftheworldsplants.org

Kew Backbone Distributions

  • Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1-1192.
  • Barooah, C. & Ahmed, I. (2014). Plant diversity of Assam. A checklist of Angiosperms and Gymnosperms: 1-599. Assam science technology and environment council, India.
  • Boggan, J. Funck, V. & Kelloff, C. (1997). Checklist of the Plants of the Guianas (Guyana, Surinam, Franch Guiana) ed. 2: 1-238. University of Guyana, Georgetown.
  • Brako, L. & Zarucchi, J.L. (1993). Catalogue of the Flowering Plants and Gymnosperms of Peru. Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 45: i-xl, 1-1286. Missouri Botanical Garden.
  • Castle, G.E. (1994). Flore des Seychelles Dicotylédones: 1-663. Orstom Editions.
  • Correa A., Mireya D. Galdames, Carmen Correa A., M. D., C. Galdames & M. S. de Stapf (2004). Catálogo de las Plantas Vasculares de Panamá: 1-599. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.
  • Correll, D.S. & Correll, H.B. (1982). Flora of the Bahama Archipelago: 1-1692. J.Cramer, Vaduz.
  • Darbyshire, I., Kordofani, M., Farag, I., Candiga, R. & Pickering, H. (eds.) (2015). The Plants of Sudan and South Sudan: 1-400. Kew publishing, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  • Dassanayake (ed.) (1998). A Revised Handbook to the Flora of Ceylon 12: 1-390. Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. PVT. LTD., New Delhi, Calcutta.
  • Dy Phon, P. (2000). Dictionnaire des plantes utilisées au Cambodge: 1-915. Chez l'auteur, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
  • GBIF (2008-2020). Global Biodiversity Information Facility http://www.gbif.org/.
  • Girmansyah, D. & al. (eds.) (2013). Flora of Bali an annotated checklist: 1-158. Herbarium Bogorensis, Indonesia.
  • Gonzalez, F., Nelson Diaz, J. & Lowry, P. (1995). Flora Illustrada de San Andrés y Providencia: 1-281. Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Colombia.
  • Hara, H., Stearn, W.T. & Williams, H.J. (1982). An Enumeration of the Flowering Plants of Nepal 3: 1-226. Trustees of British Museum, London.
  • Heine, H. (1976). Flore de la Nouvelle-Calédonie et Dépendances 7: 1-212. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris.
  • Hokche, O., Berry, P.E. & Huber, O. (eds.) (2008). Nuevo Catálogo de la Flora Vascular de Venezuela: 1-859. Fundación Instituto Botánico de Venezuela.
  • Idárraga-Piedrahita, A., Ortiz, R.D.C., Callejas Posada, R. & Merello, M. (eds.) (2011). Flora de Antioquia: Catálogo de las Plantas Vasculares 2: 1-939. Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín.
  • Kress, W.J., DeFilipps, R.A., Farr, E. & Kyi, D.Y.Y. (2003). A Checklist of the Trees, Shrubs, Herbs and Climbers of Myanmar. Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 45: 1-590. Smithsonian Institution.
  • Kuo, M.L. (ed.) (2012). Flora of Taiwan, ed. 2, Suppl.: 1-414. Editorial Committee of the Flora of Taiwan, Second Edition, National Taiwan University.
  • Malik, K.A. & Ghafoor, A. (1988). Flora of Pakistan 188: 1-79. Department of Botany, University of Karachi, Karachi.
  • Murugan, C., Singh, L.J., Prabhu, S. & Sathiyaseelan, R. (2014). The genus Ruellia L. (Acanthaceae) in Andaman and Nicobar islands. Indian Journal of Forestry 37: 425-428.
  • Nelson Sutherland, C.H. (2008). Catálogo de las plantes vasculares de Honduras. Espermatofitas: 1-1576. SERNA/Guaymuras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
  • Pasha, M.K. & Uddin, S.B. (2013). Dictionary of plant names of Bangladesh, Vasc. Pl.: 1-434. Janokalyan Prokashani, Chittagong, Bangladesh.
  • Turner, I.M. (1995). A catalogue of the Vascular Plants of Malaya. Gardens' Bulletin Singapore 47(1): 1-346.
  • Vikraman, R/R/, Pandurangan, A.G. & Thulasidas, G. (2008). A study on the garden escaped exotics of Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala. Journal of East African Natural History 32: 765-781.
  • Villaseñor, J.L. (2016). Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad 87: 559-902.
  • Vollesen, K. (2008). Flora of Tropical East Africa, Acanthaceae(1): 1-285.
  • Whistler, W.A. (2022). Flora of Samoa Flowering Plants: 1-930. National Tropical Botanicl Garden. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
  • Wu, Z. & Raven, P.H. (eds.) (2011). Flora of China 19: 1-884. Science Press (Beijing) & Missouri Botanical Garden Press (St. Louis).

Flora of Tropical East Africa

  • J. Washington Acad. Sci. 17: 510 (1927)
  • Lebrun & Stork, Enum. Pl. Afr. Trop. 4: 501 (1997).
  • Sp. Pl.: 635 (1753)
  • Symb. Bot. Ups. 29(3): 162 (1991)
  • U.O.P.Z.: 436 (1949)

Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia

  • Bernal, R., Gradstein, S.R., & Celis, M. (eds.). (2020). Catálogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia. v1.1. Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Dataset/Checklist. https://doi.org/10.15472/7avdhn
  • Burkill HM. (1995). The useful plants of west tropical Africa, Vols. 1-3. The useful plants of west tropical Africa, Vols 1-3.
  • Cámara-Leret, R., & Dennehy, Z. (2019). Information gaps in indigenous and local knowledge for science-policy assessments. Nature Sustainability 2:736-741.
  • Diazgranados et al. (2021). Catalogue of plants of Colombia. Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia project. In prep.
  • Diazgranados, M., Allkin, B., Black N., Cámara-Leret, R., Canteiro C., Carretero J., Eastwood R., Hargreaves S., Hudson A., Milliken W., Nesbitt, M., Ondo, I., Patmore, K., Pironon, S., Turner, R., Ulian, T. (2020). World Checklist of Useful Plant Species. Produced by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity.
  • FPI (2021). Food Plants International. https://fms.cmsvr.com/fmi/webd/Food_Plants_World?homeurl=https://foodplantsinternational.com/plants/
  • GBIF.org (2021). GBIF species matching tool. https://www.gbif.org/tools/species-lookup
  • Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humbodlt (2014). Plantas alimenticias y medicinales nativas de Colombia. 2567 registros, aportados por: Castellanos, C. (Contacto del recurso), Valderrama, N. (Creador del recurso, Autor), Bernal, Y. (Autor), García, N. (Autor). http://i2d.humboldt.org.co/ceiba/resource.do?r=ls_colombia_magnoliophyta_2014
  • Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt (2019). Lista de especies vedadas por la resolución 213 de 1977. 8256 especies. http://i2d.humboldt.org.co/ceiba/resource.do?r=le_plantaspriorizadas_2019
  • Medicinal Plant Names Services (MPNS) v.10 (2021); http://mpns.kew.org/
  • PROTA (2021). Plants Resources of Tropical Africa. https://prota4u.org/database/
  • Plants for malaria, plants for fever: Medicinal species in Latin America, a bibliographic survey: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Other Data

Other Kew resources that provide information on this taxon:

Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status Has image?
Dec 22, 2015 Zulfadhli, M. [75802] Malaya K000938773 No
Dec 22, 2015 Kungkai, R. [83] Borneo K000938779 No
Jun 1, 2012 Rosdi, M. [59839] Malaysia K000734313 No
Jun 1, 2012 Pius, G., et al. [149359] Malaysia K000734347 No
Dec 1, 2007 Arbainsyah; van Balgooy, M.M.J. [AA 3201] Indonesia K000224686 No
Nov 1, 2007 Arbainsyah; van Balgooy, M.M.J. [AA 3205] Indonesia K000224653 No
Linden, J. [197bis] Mexico K000064269 No
Gaumer, G.F. [1801] Mexico K000064278 No
Milne, R. [16] Seychelles K004997421 Yes
Reynoso; Alvarez; Fernando [PPI6602] Philippines K004996077 Yes
Drummond [257] K004997564 Yes
Palmer, E.J. [7811] K004997565 Yes
Palmer, E. [2031] K004997566 Yes
Kessler, P.J.A.; et al. [PK1107] Indonesia K004996060 Yes
Heller, A.A. [s.n.] United States K004997571 Yes
s.coll. [s.n.] Philippines K004996079 Yes
Rose, J.N.; Russell, P.G. [24187] United States K004997577 Yes
Carvalho, A.M. [281] Brazil K001032662 Yes
Cox, J.K. [334] K004996053 Yes
Drummond [s.n.] K004997558 Yes
Sinclair, J. [40105] Malaysia K004995981 Yes
Bush, B.F. [147] United States K004997569 Yes
Chua, K.S. [cks 2019-01] Singapore K001871898 No
s.coll. [13] K004996059 Yes
Wright, C. [431] K004997562 Yes
Gentry, H.S. [1546] Mexico K000064277 No
s.coll. [s.n.] K004997561 Yes
Bush, B.F. [313] United States K004997582 Yes
s.coll. [s.n.] K004997560 Yes
Gaumer, G.F. Mexico K000064274 No
Gaumer, G.F. [488] Mexico K000064279 No
Reverchon, J. [1945] United States K004997574 Yes
Ambriansyah [AA839] K004996056 Yes
Coulter, T. [1185] Mexico K000064271 No
s.coll. [s.n.] Philippines K004996078 Yes
Kerenga, K. [LAE56814] Papua New Guinea K004996089 Yes
Hamid [5200] K004995980 Yes
Palmer, E. [1007] K004997568 Yes
Kessler; et al. [PK1107] Indonesia K004996061 Yes
Coulter, T. [1184] Mexico K000064272 No
s.coll. [s.n.] K004997559 Yes
s.coll. [s.n.] United States K004997580 Yes
Palmer, E. [1006] K004997567 Yes
[Mrs Carson Roberts] [s.n.] Indonesia K004996057 Yes
Wright, C. [1455] United States K004997578 Yes
Drummond [33] K004997563 Yes
Parry, C.C.; Palmer, E. [703] Mexico K000064273 No
Hennipman, E. [5024] Indonesia K004996062 Yes
Reynoso; Sagcal; Fuentes [PPI841] Philippines K004996076 Yes
Gouan [s.n.] K000534210 Unknown Type Material Yes
Arockiasamy, D.I. [RHT8197] K004995947 Yes
Wright, C. [430] United States K004997579 Yes
Sidiyasa, K. [1391] Indonesia K004996055 Yes
Palmer, E.J. [8569] United States K004997573 Yes
Plowman, T. [5518] Peru K:SPC-44415.000 No
Hall, E. [427] United States K004997572 Yes
Lindheimer [1066] United States K004997570 Yes
Wright, C. [431] United States K004997581 Yes
Seler, E.G. [1982] Mexico K000064270 No
Bell, A.S. (Mrs) [678] K004995946 Yes
Cecil (Lady) [V4] K004995982 Yes
Elsener, A. [172] K004996052 Yes
Keith [s.n.] K004996054 Yes
Daniel, T.F. [6572] Papua New Guinea K004996088 Yes

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Catálogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia

    • 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

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • 'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. 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 2025. 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

  • Universidad Nacional de Colombia

    • ColPlantA database
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia

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

  • Useful Plants of Boyacá Project

    • ColPlantA database
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/