Common name: Blue Nettle, Nettle Leaved Strobilanthes
Botanical name: Strobilanthes attenuata Family: Acanthaceae (Ruellia family)
Synonyms: Pteracanthus urticifolius
Blue Nettle is a sticky-hairy perennial subshrub growing up to 1.2 m.
Leaves are soft, fuzzy, ovate-heart-shaped, toothed, blade up to 18 cm. One
of the botanical names urticifolius means having leaves like Stinging Nettle. It's vividly colored blooms
cover dense spikes for months. The plant sports curved, tubular,
Salvia-like, bright blue or purple flowers, with a pale throat. The flowers
occur in branched, glandularly hairy inflorescence. The curved flower tube
is 3.5 cm long, and enlarging above with rounded lobes spreading outwards.
The bracts fall off before flowers expand. It is found in the Himalayas,
Kashmir to NE India, at altitudes of 1200-3000 m. Flowering: July-October.
| Photographed in Valley of Flowers, Uttaranchal. |
Identification credit: Manoj Biswas
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