Acanthaceae
Ruttya

Ruttya fruticosa Lindau

First published in Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 20: 45 (1894)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is NE. & E. Tropical Africa, S. Arabian Peninsula. It is a scrambling shrub and grows primarily in the desert or dry shrubland biome.

Descriptions

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

Type
N2, “Serrut” Mt near “Meid”, Hildebrandt 893 (B holo., destr.).
Morphology General Habit
Shrub, up to 3 m tall; twigs often pendent
Morphology Leaves
Leaves ovate to elliptic, 3–12 x 1–4.5 cm, wrinkled, acute or acuminate at the apex, narrowing into a short petiole at the base
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Flowers in terminal cymes
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx-lobes linear-lanceolate, 4–6 mm long
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Corolla orange red to brick red, c. 5 cm across, mouth brownish black, wrinkled and shiny; upper lip erect, deeply 2-lobed, 15–20 mm long; lower lip deflexed with middle lobe 18–20 mm long; tube c. 10 mm long
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Style
Style 3–4 cm long
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsule up to c. 40 x 8 mm.
Distribution
N1, 2; Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Yemen, Oman
Ecology
Altitude range 1200–1900 m.
Vernacular
Dicri, elas (Somali).
[FSOM]

Flora Zambesiaca Acanthaceae (part 2) by Iain Darbyshire, Kaj Vollesen and Ensermu Kelbessa

Morphology General Habit
Shrub to 3 m tall; cystoliths present.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves ovate to elliptic, to 10 cm long, entire, apex acute to rounded, base decurrent.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers in 4–8-flowered axillary dichasia; lower bracts foliaceous, upper minute.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx 3–6 mm long, with 5 narrowly triangular lobes.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Corolla orange red to bright red (rarely yellow), a large glossy black nectariferous patch on base of lower lip; tube to 1.2 cm long, lobes to 2.5 × 1.2 cm, 2 in upper lip erect, 3 in lower lip strongly deflexed.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Stamens 2, erect, held under upper lip; anthers monothecous, ellipsoid, rounded.
Distribution
Native of eastern Africa. Widely cultivated elsewhere in Africa.
[FZ]

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]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

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

  • 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

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. 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 2024. 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