Acanthaceae
Ruspolia

Ruspolia hypocrateriformis (Vahl) Milne-Redh.

First published in Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1936: 270 (1936)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is W. Tropical Africa to Ethiopia and Angola. It is a subshrub or shrub and grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome.

Descriptions

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Acanthaceae, H. Heine. Flora of West Tropical Africa 2. 1963

Morphology General Habit
A shrubby plant 3-4 ft. high, with stiff pithy angled branches
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Slender tubular flowers 11/2 in. long coral-red with a darker centre forming a rather dense linear panicle 2-7 In. long.
[FWTA]

M. Thulin et al. Flora of Somalia, Vol. 1-4 [updated 2008] https://plants.jstor.org/collection/FLOS

Morphology General Habit
Shrub to 1.5 m tall, sparsely branched; stems often dark reddish green, glabrous except for a few c.1 mm long hairs on the nodes
Morphology Leaves
Leaf-blades narrowly ovate, up to 45–60 x 22–28 mm, glabrous except for some c. 0.2 mm long ± appressed hairs along the veins, apex acute, base shortly attenuate; petiole up to 10–15 mm long
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Flowers in compound spikes in upper part of the stem; lowermost bracts leaf-like, up to 25 x 15 mm, remaining ones inconspicuous; bracteoles linear-subulate, inconspicuous
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx-lobes narrowly triangular-subulate, thread-like and twisted in the upper part, up to 15 mm long, sparsely hairy with c. 0.2 mm long spreading hairs along margin
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Corolla bright red, at least 30 mm long and 16 mm across; tube up to 30 mm long, c. 1 mm wide; lobes with free part c. 7 mm long
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens Anthers
Anthers c. 1.2 mm long, at entrance of tube
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsule 2–4-seeded, up to 35 x 6 mm, glabrous, sterile for the lower 1/2
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds up to 8 x 7 mm, smooth.
Distribution
S1, 3 tropical East Africa.
Ecology
Altitude range 50–375 m.
[FSOM]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

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

  • Flora of Somalia

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

  • Flora of West Tropical Africa

    • Flora of West Tropical Africa
    • 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 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