Justicia gendarussa
Family
Acanthaceae
Synonyms
Gendarussa vulgaris Nees.
Vernacular Names
| Malaysia | Gandarusa, temenggong melela, urat sugi (Peninsular). |
| Indonesia | Gandarusa (General), besi-besi (Aceh), kawo (Seram). |
| Philippines | Kapanitulot (Tagalog), bunlao(Bisaya), tagpayan (Iloko). |
| Thailand | Chiang phraa man (Central), pong dam (Trat), kraduuk kaidam (Northern). |
| Vietnam | t[aaf]n c[uwr]u, thu[oos]c tr[awj]c, t[aaf]n giao. |
Geographical Distributions
This plant is well distributed in Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Indo-China, China, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Java, the Moluccas and the Philippines; possibly a native of China, but now much cultivated and naturalised.
Description
This is a shrub up to 150 cm tall. The stems are cylindrical and usually the young twigs are dark purple.
The leaves are linear-lance-shaped size 5-20 cm x 1-3.5 cm, with up to 1 cm long stalk.
The inflorescence is a spike with lance-shaped bracts and about 4 mm long. The flowers are 1.5-2 cm long, white with purplish streaks and with spots on the inside.
The fruit is club-shaped to ellipsoid, about 1.3 cm long and smooth.
Ecology / Cultivation
J. gendarussa is cultivated, and naturalised in forest, forest borders and on river banks in Java, up to 1500 m altitude. In the Philippines, it often grows along streams in primary and secondary forest.
Line Drawing / Photograph
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References
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Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 12(2). 1998, Unesco.
