• Family name: Acanthaceae

• Host plant for: Occasionally Malachite (Siproeta stelenes)

• General description: Erect herbaceous perennial with opposite leaves and lavender to blue tubular flowers. Adaptable and easy to cultivate. Prefers moist, well-drained sites in sun to partial shade but will tolerate drier soils with regular irrigation. Underused wildflower in gardens. Showy in numbers. Ready spreads by reseeding.

• Type: Herbaceous perennial
• Flower: Tubular, lavender to blue flowers
• Bloom time: Spring to fall
• Soil type: Moist, well-drained soils
• Maximum height: 2 feet

• Candidate for home gardens: Easy to cultivate. Showy in mass
• Availability in nursery: Specialty and native plant nurseries
• Frenquency in the wild: Common
• Habitat: hardwood forests, ruderal

• Range in Florida

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The Florida Wildflowers & Butterflies projects at the Florida Museum are sponsored in part by the State of Florida and the Florida Wildflower Foundation, Inc.