Nilgiri Justicia is a herb with woody thick rootstock
and long roots; stems often numerous, prostrate. Leaves are opposite,
3-3.5 x 0.5-1 cm, stalkless, oblong-lanceshaped, blunt, soft, greyish
green in color, hairless, minutely punctuate, finely fringed with hairs
along the margin. Flowers are borne in 4-10 cm long spikes, with bracts
1.5 x 0.7 cm, ovate, very pointed, white but with large green nerves;
bracteoles nearly as large. Sepals are five, 5 mm long, all equal,
linear pointed, jointed only near the base. Flower-tube is slightly
longer, broadening suddenly above the base: upper lip 8 mm long, very
concave, notched: lower lip 1 cm broad, 3-fid; lobes spreading; middle
lobe rounded, slightly broader than the laterals. Capsule is 2 cm
long, dark purple above, velvety woolly, laterally contracted at the
base; seeds 4 mm across, papillate. Nilgiri Justicia is endemic to
Southern Western Ghats.
Identification credit: S. Jeevith
Photographed in the Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu.
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The flower labeled Nilgiri Justicia is ...