About Ruellia caroliniensis subsp. ciliosa (Pursh) R.W.Long
This taxon, Ruellia caroliniensis subsp. ciliosa (Pursh) R.W.Long, is a subspecies of Ruellia caroliniensis, a herbaceous perennial plant. It produces purple or pinkish flowers that vary in shade. Mature plants reach up to 3 feet in height, and bear crowded, opposite, lanceolate to elliptic leaves. Its root system is fibrous and thick. Flowers grow in axillary clusters of 2 to 4, with long, funnelform corollas that have five distinct lobes. Blooming begins in spring and continues through summer; each individual bloom lasts around one day, and typically not all flowers in a single cluster open at the same time. This plant can be distinguished from other species in the Ruellia genus by its long, pointed calyx lobes, and bracts that persist after the flowers wilt. After pollination, a seed capsule develops at the leaf axil where the flower originally grew. Seeds are dispersed via explosive dehiscence: when the seed capsules reach maturity, approximately two months after forming, they burst open to propel seeds away from the parent plant. Ruellia caroliniensis attracts a wide range of pollinators, especially lepidopterans. It acts as a larval host plant for two butterfly species: the common buckeye (Junonia coenia) and the white peacock (Anartia jatrophae). Its strong, woody root system gives the plant resilience to damage from frost and wildfire.
