Acanthaceae

Justicia L.

First published in Sp. Pl.: 15 (1753), nom. cons.
This genus is accepted
The native range of this genus is Africa, Tropical & Subtropical Asia to SW. Pacific, Tropical & Subtropical America.

Descriptions

Shahina A. Ghazanfar (2015). Flora of Oman, Volume 3: Loganiaceae - Asteraceae. National Botanic Garden of Belgium

Distribution
About 600 species distributed mainly in the tropics from the Arabian Peninsula to South Africa; W Indian Ocean Islands; tropical Asia to Australia; also E Canada to Argentina.
[FO]

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

Morphology General Habit
Herbs or shrubs
Morphology Leaves
Leaves entire, simple
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Flowers in axillary or terminal spikes or clusters; bracts and bracteoles present, sometimes enlarged
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx 4–5-lobed (5-lobed in Somalia)
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Corolla 2-lipped, upper lip usually shallowly 2-lobed, lower lip 3-lobed
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Stamens 2; anthers 2-celled with one cell above the other and the lowest one usually tailed
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsule 2–4-seeded
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds smooth or variously ornamented.
Distribution
Genus of some 900 species, mainly in the tropics.
[FSOM]

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/120941671/120980128

Conservation
EN - endangered LC - least concern
[IUCN]

Sources

  • Flora of Oman

    • Shahina A Ghazanfar (2003-2018). Flora of the Sultanate of Oman. Meise, Botanic Garden Meise.
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora of Somalia

    • Flora of Somalia
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • IUCN Categories

    • IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2026. 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 2026. 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