Justicia

Plant Characteristics

Cultivation

Scientific Names

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Justicia is a genus of about 420 species of flowering plants in the family Acanthaceae, native to tropical to warm temperate regions of the Americas, with two species occurring north into cooler temperate regions. Common names include water-willow and shrimp plant, the latter from the inflorescences, which resemble a shrimp in some species.

Read about Justicia in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Justicia (James Justice, a scotch gardener and author of the eighteenth century).Acanthaceir. Greenhouse plants, grown for the showy fascicles, spikes or panicles of white, violet or red bracted flowers. Mostly herbs of various habit, with opposite entire lvs: calyx deeply divided into 4 or 5 narrow lobes; corolla 2-lipped, the straight or curved tube very short and dilated above, the upper lip erect or incurved and concave and the summit entire or somewhat 2-toothed, the lower lip 3-lobed and spreading; stamens 2 attached in the throat; staminodia none; disk ring-like or cupulate: caps, ovate or oblong, with seeds 4 or less.-Species 250-300, widely distributed in many warm regions, in Amer. reaching as far north as Texas. From Jacobinia, close garden ally, the genus is distinguished by the spurred or appendaged anthers. Justicia is variously understood. Landau (in Engler & Prantl, Pflanzenfamilien) refers no less than 30 genera to it, among others being Adhatoda and Dianthera. Most of the garden plants known as justicias are jacobinias. Consult Jacobinia, for example, for Justicia magnifica, J. carnea, J. Pohliana, J. velutina, J. Mohintlii, J. coccinea, J. Ghiesbreghtiana and J. Lindenii. Others may belong to Thyrsacanthus, Daedalacanthus and Schaueria; and there has been confusion even with Whitfieldia. The remarks on culture under the different species of jacobinias will apply here. Plants are secured readily from cuttings made in late winter or spring, and these should bloom the coming fall or winter. After blooming, discard the plants, except such as are to be kept for furnishing cuttings. Unless well headed back, old plants become loose and weedy, and they take up too much room. The Justicia quadrifida now offered in S. Calif., is probably Anisacanthus virgularis, Nees (Justicia virgularis, Salisb. J. coccinea, Cav., not Aubl. J. quadrifida, vahl. drejera puberula, torr.). Plant vigorous, rather straggling, with long erect branches, glabrous: lvs. deciduous, light green, opposite and decussate, elliptic-lanceolate, spreading, rigid: fls. scarlet-red (or orange-scarlet), usually solitary, axillary in one of the 2 opposite axils, thus making a long leafy unilateral spike; corolla-tube long and slender, deeply lobed into 4 spreading or recurved parts. Mex. R.H. 1872:50. Autumn and winter in S. Calif., Aug. and Sept. in France. var. compacta, franceschi, is a very compact low bush of emerald-green color and covered all summer with orange-scarlet fls.; comes true from seed.— Not to be confounded with Justicia quadrifaria, Wall. Of the justicias appearing in American lists, only J. furcata, Jacq. (Adhatoda furcata, DC.) seems now to be retained in the genus. Herbaceous, pubescent, the st. erect and terete: lvs. oblong-oval, attenuate to petiole: fls. small, in short aggregated axillary spikes which are often geminate, the bracts linear-lanceolate; color of fls. purple and white; upper lip 2-fid, the lower 3-fid and broad-convex. S. Mex.—Said to seed itself freely in S. Calif., but to be of little value. J. calloricha and J. ealycotricha, Hort., see Schaueria.—J. flava, Hort., and J. flatfcoma, Lindl. equals Schaueria. The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Cultivation

Species

Selected species:

Justicia adhatoda Justicia adhatodoides Justicia americana Justicia androsaemifolia Justicia angusta Justicia betonica Justicia borinquensis Justicia brandegeeana Justicia brasiliana Justicia californica Justicia candicans Justicia carnea Justicia carthagenensis

Justicia comata Justicia cooleyi Justicia crassifolia Justicia culebritae Justicia cydoniifolia Justicia fulvicoma Justicia gendarussa Justicia kotschyi Justicia leonardii Justicia martinsoniana Justicia mirabiloides Justicia orchioides Justicia ovata Justicia pectoralis Justicia procumbens

Justicia plumbaginifolia Justicia procumbens Justicia quinqueangularis Justicia rizzinii Justicia runyonii Justicia secunda Justicia sonorae Justicia sphaerosperma Justicia spicigera Justicia tweediana Justicia umbrosa Justicia warnockii Justicia wrightii

Justicia americana (American Water-willow), is native to eastern North America north to southern Ontario; it is the hardiest species in the genus, hardy to USDA Plant Zone 4. Justicia ovata (Looseflower Water-willow) occurs nearly as far north, reaching Michigan.

Justicia brandegeeana (formerly Beloperone guttata, commonly called Shrimp Plant) is native to Mexico. It is hardy to −4 °C but will often recover in the spring after freezing back in USDA Plant Zone 8a.

Justicia carnea (formerly Jacobinia carnea, common names including Brazilian Plume Flower, Flamingo Flower, and Jacobinia) is native to South America in southern Brazil, Paraguay and northern Argentina. It is hardy to −2 °C but will often recover in the spring after freezing back in USDA Plant Zone 8a.

Justicia procumbens-procumbent herb,stem angular,swollen at nodes,leaves ovate,small,inflorescence terminal spike,flowers small,purple,stamens didynamous,inserted,stigma shortly bilobed

Synonyms: Genera which have been brought into Synonymy with Justicia include Acelica, Adhatoda, Amphiscopia, Anisostachya, Aulojusticia, Averia, Beloperone, Calliaspidia, Calymmostachya, Chaetothylopsis, Chiloglossa, Cyphisia, Cyrtanthera, Cyrtantherella, Dianthera, Dimanisa, Drejerella, Duvernoia, Emularia, Ethesia, Glosarithys, Harnieria, Heinzelia, Hemichoriste, Heteraspidia, Ixtlania, Jacobinia, Kuestera, Libonia, Lophothecium, Lustrinia, Nicoteba, Orthotactus, Parajusticia, Petalanthera, Plagiacanthus, Plegmatolemma, Porphyrocoma, Psacadocalymma, Rhacodiscus, Rhiphidosperma, Rhyticalymma, Rodatia, Rostellaria, Rostellularia, Saglorithys, Salviacanthus, Sarotheca, Sericographis, Simonisia, Solenochasma, Stethoma, Tabascina, Thalestris, Thamnojusticia, and Tyloglossa.

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References

• Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963
• Germplasm Resources Information Network: Justicia
• USDA Plants Profile: Justicia

External links

• w:Justicia. Some of the material on this page may be from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons license.
• Justicia QR Code (Size 50, 100, 200, 500)