Common Name: ACANTHUS FAMILY Habit: [Annual, perennial herb to] shrub, [tree], nodes generally swollen. Leaf: simple, generally opposite, entire (toothed [lobed]); stipules 0. Inflorescence: variable, with bracts, generally also bractlets. Flower: bisexual; calyx deeply (3)4--5 lobed [(sepals free)]; corolla 4--5 lobed, radial to 2-lipped; stamens 2 or 4, epipetalous, anther sacs sometimes dissimilar in size or placement; ovary superior, 4--many-ovuled, chambers 1--2, placentas axile (free central), stigmas 1--2. Fruit: capsule, loculicidal, generally dehiscing explosively, valves 2. Seed: 1--4[+], each generally subtended by hook-like outgrowth that remains in fruit. Genera In Family: 220 genera, 4000 species: especially tropics; some ornamental: Justicia (Beloperone, shrimp-plant), Acanthus, Thunbergia. eFlora Treatment Author: Thomas F. Daniel, Margriet Wetherwax & Lawrence R. Heckard, except as noted Scientific Editor: Thomas J. Rosatti.
Habit: [Annual, perennial herb] shrub. Inflorescence: generally raceme [variable]. Flower: corolla 2-lipped, tube generally >= lips, wider upward, upper lip notched or 2-lobed, lower 3-lobed; stamens 2, generally appressed to upper lip, anther sacs unequally placed on filament, opening toward lower lip, lower sac spurred. Fruit: club-shaped; stalk +- flat. Seed: 4, outlined on fruit surface [or not]. Etymology: (James Justice, Scottish horticulturist, 1698--1763) Reference: Graham 1988 Kew Bull 43:551--624
Justicia californica (Benth.) D.N. Gibson
NATIVE Stem: < 2 m, generally leafless in flower, canescent. Leaf: blade 1--6 cm, ovate, triangular, or +- round, puberulent; petiole < 20 mm. Inflorescence: bracts < 1 cm, lance-elliptic, falling early; bractlets 2--5 mm, narrow-tapered. Flower: calyx 5--8 mm, lobes 5, lanceolate; corolla 2--4 cm, puberulent, dull scarlet (yellow), lips 1--2 cm, < tube, lobes of lower 1--4 mm. Fruit: 1.5--2 cm, canescent. Seed: 2.5--3.5 mm, +- round, mottled. Chromosomes: 2n=28. Ecology: Dry sandy or rocky soils, especially washes; Elevation: < 950 m. Bioregional Distribution: e PR, D (exc DMtns); Distribution Outside California: Arizona, northwestern Mexico. Flowering Time: Mar--Jun Synonyms: Beloperone californica Benth. Jepson eFlora Author: Thomas F. Daniel, Margriet Wetherwax & Lawrence R. Heckard Reference: Graham 1988 Kew Bull 43:551--624 Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange) Previous taxon: Justicia Next taxon: Aizoaceae
Jepson Video for Justicia californica
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Botanical illustration including Justicia californica
Citation for this treatment: Thomas F. Daniel, Margriet Wetherwax & Lawrence R. Heckard 2012, Justicia californica, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=29815, accessed on April 23, 2024.
Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 23, 2024.
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(Note: any qualifiers in the taxon distribution description, such as 'northern', 'southern', 'adjacent' etc., are not reflected in the map above, and in some cases indication of a taxon in a subdivision is based on a single collection or author-verified occurence).
Data provided by the participants of the
Consortium of California Herbaria.
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Blue markers indicate specimens that map to one of the expected Jepson geographic subdivisions (see left map). Purple markers indicate specimens collected from a garden, greenhouse, or other non-wild location.
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CCH collections by month
Duplicates counted once; synonyms included.
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Blue line denotes eFlora flowering time (fruiting time in some monocot genera).
