Ruellia ciliosa

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Ruellia ciliosa
Ruellia ciliosa MMS.jpg
Photo taken by Gil Nelson
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Order: Scrophulariales
Family: Acanthaceae
Genus: Ruellia
Species: R. ciliosa
Binomial name
Ruellia ciliosa
(Pursh) R.W. Long
Ruel cili dist.jpg
Natural range of Ruellia ciliosa from USDA NRCS Plants Database.

Common names:Sandhills Wild Petunia, Ciliate Wild Petunia (Nelson 2006).

Taxonomic notes

Description

Distribution

It is found in sandhills of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina (Nelson 2006).

Ecology

Habitat

In the Coastal Plain in Florida, it can be found in recently burned longleaf pine wiregrass woods, longleaf pine sandhills, burned longleaf pine ridges, open woodlands, turkey-oak-pinelands, scrub oak barrens, pine savannas, annually burned savannas and annually burned hardwoods (FSU Herbarium). It can also be found along roadsides, disturbed turkey oak-pinewoods, and pine-hardwood clearings. It grows in sandy loam and sandy soil (FSU Herbarium). Associated species include Sporobolus junceus, turkey oak and bluejack oaks (FSU Herbarium).

Phenology

It flowers March through September (FSU Herbarium).

It blooms from May through September and in response to fire (see below) (Nelson 2006).

Seed dispersal

Seed bank and germination

Fire ecology

It flowers within two months of burning in early summer (KMR). Ruellia ciliosa responds rapidly to fire and may be seen as one of the more common plants in longleaf pine native ground cover after a prescribed burn. Within a few weeks or so, Ruellia ciliosa, produces new leaves and flowers profusely but temporary (Nelson 2006,KMR). It was also observed to flower in areas raked and cleared of litter other vegetation in a longleaf pine-wiregrass site which otherwise had not burned for several years, suggesting that it germinates and flowers in response to to light (KMR).

Pollination

Use by animals

Diseases and parasites

Conservation and Management

Cultivation and restoration

Photo Gallery

References and notes

Robertson, Kevin M. 2014. Personal observation made at Pebble Hill Plantation, Grady County, Georgia.

Florida State University Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium database. URL: http://herbarium.bio.fsu.edu. Last accessed: July 2015. Collectors: Loran C. Anderson, A.B. Seymour, A.E. Radford, Sidney McDaniel, R. F. Thorne, R. A. Davidson, Robert Kral, Robert K. Godfrey, Gary R. Knight, Bill & Pam Anderson, Ann F. Johnson, Roy Komarek. States and Counties: Alabama: Baldwin. Florida: Bay, Gadsden, Jackson, Levy, Liberty, Monroe, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Wakulla, Washington. Georgia: Grady, Thomas. Mississippi: Jackson. South Carolina: Sumter. Compiled by Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy.

Nelson, Gil. Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers: A Field Guide to the Wildflowers of the Coastal Regions of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Northeastern Florida. Guilford, CT: FalconGuide, 2006. 36. Print.