FoI
Foldwing Justicia
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Foldwing Justicia
ative Photo: Pravin Kawale
Common name: Foldwing Justicia
Botanical name: Justicia pubigera    Family: Acanthaceae (Acanthus family)
Synonyms: Peristrophe pubigera, Justicia edgeworthii, Rhaphidospora ciliata

Foldwing Justicia is an erect, basally woody, up to 1.2 m tall herb with channeled branches. Flowers are pinkish-red, about 1.8 cm long, shortly stalked. Flowers closely resemble Persitrophe (Foldwing), but are different in the bracts. Flowers are borne in clusters in leaf axils, upto 8 cm long. Bracts are linear, 2-3 mm long, velvety; bracteoles rudimentary or absent. Sepals are linear, 4-6 mm long, hairy. Flower-tube is about 8 mm long, velvety, upper lip about 9 mm long, shortly bilobed. Lower lip is about 8 mm long, deeply 3-lobed hanging. Leaves are carried on 0.5-1 cm long, hairy stalks. Leaves are ovate-lanceshaped, 4.5-11 cm long, 2-4.5 cm broad, hairy on both side, margin entire, tip long-pointed, base wedge-shaped. Capsule is oblong club-shaped, 1.2-1.3 cm long, velvety. Foldwing Justicia is found in the Himalayas, from Pakistan to Nepal, at altitudes of 1500-2500 m. Flowering: August-October.

Identification credit: H.B. Naithani Photographed on Govindghat-Ghangria route, Uttarakhand.

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