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Key to Justicia

Acanthaceae

Justicia

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1 Bracts of the inflorescence foliaceous and overlapping; [exotic species, cultivated and sometimes escaping in upland or bottomland situations].
  2 Bracts yellow or red; corolla white
  2 Bracts green; corolla pink to purplish (rarely white)
 Justicia carnea
1 Bracts of the inflorescence small, neither foliaceous nor overlapping.
    3 Corolla orange, 3.5-5 cm long; lower corolla lip unmarked
    3 Corolla white, lavender, or purplish; lower corolla lip marked with darker stripes; [native species, of various wetlands].
      4 Inflorescence a panicle
      4 Inflorescence a spike.
        5 Spike densely flowered; seeds verrucose; primary leaves averaging 6-8× as long as wide; [of the Piedmont, Mountains, and Coastal Plain]
        5 Spike loosely flowered; seeds smooth or minutely muricate (with very fine, sharp projections); primary leaves either ca. 2-6× as long as wide or > 8× as long as wide; [of the Coastal Plain].
          6 Corolla purple, 18-30 mm long; leaves averaging > 8× as long as wide; cystoliths parallel to the midvein of the leaf; [of s. GA south into FL].
             7 Upper leaf blades 4-7 cm long, not channeled, tough but not fleshy; calyx segments 5-7 mm long, < 1 mm wide
             7 Upper leaf blades 8-13.5 cm long, channeled, fleshy; calyx segments 11-15 mm long, ca. 1 mm wide
          6 Corolla pale lavender to white, 8-13 mm long; leaves averaging 2-6× as long as wide; cystoliths parallel to the secondary veins of the leaf; [of the Coastal Plain throughout our area].
               8 Spikes lax, the flowers usually borne singly, secund; seeds smooth; leaves averaging ca. 5× as long as wide
               8 Spikes somewhat congested, the flowers borne in opposite pairs; seeds minutely muricate (with very fine, sharp projections); leaves averaging ca. 3× as long as wide