Blepharis edulis
Blepharis ciliaris(L.) B.L. Burtt in Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinb. 22: 94. 1956. Feinbrun-Dothan in Zohary, Fl. Pal. 3: 218. Pl. 368. 1978.
Synonyms:
- Acanthus edulis Forssk.Fl. Aegypt.-Arab. 115 (1775).
- Acanthus pectinatus Willd. ex Nees Prodr. 11: 274 (1847).
- Acanthus tetragonus R.Br.Voy. Abyss. App. 4: lxv (1814).
- Ruellia ciliaris L.Mant. 1: 89 .
- Ruellia persica Burm. f.Fl. Indica , pl. 42 (1768).
NE
Perennial, greyish-pubescent to glabrescent, up to 30 cm tall, basally branched herb. Leaves with up to 1.2 cm long petiole; lamina coriaceous, oblong to lanceolate, 2-6 x 0.8-2 cm, margins entire to remotely spinulose, puberulous above, apex spine tipped, evanescent. Inflorescence a dense, strobilate spike. Flowers purplish-blue, fading to white, 1.5-2 cm long; bracts 4-rowed, ovate, 3-5 cm long, hairy on both sides, patent, apex long-acuminate with a sharp, 1.5-3.5 cm long spine at tip, margins with 3-5 pairs of lateral spines; bracteoles linear-subulate, 1-1.5 cm long, villose. Calyx scarious, ± membranous, soft hairy, 4-lobed, lobes unequal, upper lobe longest, 2-3-lobed, lateral small. Corolla tube short, c. 5 mm long, upper lip absent, lower lip flat with 3 obtuse lobes, puberulous. Capsule compressed-ovate, 6-7 mm long, glabrous, acuminate.
East Tropical Africa, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan. the Farasan Islands(Farasan Al-Kabir- Sajid).
Flowering period:
August-October.