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: Subshrub, shrub. Inflorescence: generally spike- [or panicle-]like. Flower: corolla 4-lobed (but petals 5), tube < lobes, slender, barely wider at throat, uppermost lobe generally notched (2 petals +- entirely fused), 2 lateral ascending or reflexed, lowest +- keeled, included stamens, style; stamens 2, anther sacs +- equally placed on filament, opening toward uppermost lobe, not spurred. Fruit: compressed-ovoid; stalk +- flat. Seed: 4, disk-like, notched at base.
Etymology: (Charles Wright, American botanical collector, 1811--1885)
Reference: Daniel et al. 2008 Syst Bot 33:416--436
Unabridged Reference: Daniel 1988 Brittonia 40:245--255