Ruellia brevifolia (Pohl) C.Ezcurra, Acanthaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Ruellia graecizans Backer; Stephanophysum longifolium Pohl

Common name(s): [more details]

English: common wild petunia

French: petit-oiseau-rouge-de-la-forêt

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Erect perennial herbs 0.5-1 m tall.  Leaves green, lower surface paler, ovate, 4-13 cm long, 2-4.5 cm wide, hispidulous, white cystoliths numerous and conspicuous, petioles 6-30 mm long.  Flowers in cymose panicles, each flower subtended by 2 linear bracts 2-4 mm long; calyx lobes 5, linear, ca. 10 mm long; corolla bright red, 2.7-3.2 cm long.  Capsules clavate, 1.4-1.7 cm long, inconspicuously puberulent"  (Wagner et al., 1999; pp. 174, 1856).

Habitat/ecology:  Cultivated as an ornamental and naturalizes.  In Australia, naturalized in disturbed rainforest in coastal north Queensland (Csurhes and Edwards, 1998; p. 130).  In Fiji, "sometimes locally frequent as a naturalized weed from near sea level to about 400 m on hillsides, along trails and roadsides, and in coconut plantations"  (Smith, 1991; p. 122).  In Hawai‘i, "cultivated as an ornamental and now naturalized"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 174).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Tropical South America.

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Fiji Fiji Islands	Exploring Islands	introduced invasive	Smith, Albert C. (1991) (pp. 122-123) Voucher cited: Graeffe 117
Fiji Fiji Islands	Koro Island	introduced invasive	Smith, Albert C. (1991) (pp. 122-123) Voucher cited: Smith 1044
Fiji Fiji Islands	Koro Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1934) (voucher ID: BISH 127805) Taxon name on voucher: Ruellia graecizans Backer
Fiji Fiji Islands	Ovalau Island	introduced invasive	Smith, Albert C. (1991) (pp. 122-123) Voucher cited: Smith 7503, Gillespie 4535, Parks 20489
Fiji Fiji Islands	Ovalau Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1928) (voucher ID: BISH 127807) Taxon name on voucher: Ruellia graecizans Backer
Fiji Fiji Islands	Ovalau Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1953) (voucher ID: BISH 127808) Taxon name on voucher: Ruellia graecizans Backer
Fiji Fiji Islands	Ovalau Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1993) (voucher ID: BISH 633559) Taxon name on voucher: Ruellia graecizans Backer
Fiji Fiji Islands	Taveuni Island	introduced invasive	Smith, Albert C. (1991) (pp. 122-123) Vouchers cited: Gillespie 4713, DA 8935
Fiji Fiji Islands	Taveuni Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1928) (voucher ID: BISH 127804) Taxon name on voucher: Ruellia graecizans Backer
Fiji Fiji Islands	Vanua Levu Island	introduced invasive	Smith, Albert C. (1991) (pp. 122-123) Voucher cited: Bierhorst 104A
Fiji Fiji Islands	Vanua Mbalavu Island	introduced invasive	Smith, Albert C. (1991) (pp. 122-123) Voucher cited: DA 10202
Fiji Fiji Islands	Vatu Vara Island	introduced invasive	Smith, Albert C. (1991) (pp. 122-123) Voucher cited: Bryan 597
Fiji Fiji Islands	Vatu Vara Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1924) (voucher ID: BISH 127802) Taxon name on voucher: Ruellia graecizans Backer
Fiji Fiji Islands	Vatu Vara Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1924) (voucher ID: BISH 127803) Taxon name on voucher: Ruellia graecizans Backer
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island	introduced invasive	Smith, Albert C. (1991) (pp. 122-123) Vouchers cited: DA 10273, DA 11418, Greenwood 10, Vaughan 3160, Gillespie 2945, Tothill 655, DA 11240, H. B. R. Parham 4, Meebold 16924
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1958) (voucher ID: BISH 33852) Taxon name on voucher: Ruellia graecizans Backer
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1927) (voucher ID: BISH 127806) Taxon name on voucher: Ruellia graecizans Backer
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1932) (voucher ID: BISH 127809) Taxon name on voucher: Ruellia graecizans Backer
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1927) (voucher ID: BISH 127810) Taxon name on voucher: Ruellia graecizans Backer
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 174)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Oppenheimer, Hank L. (2003) (p. 4) East Maui. Vouchers cited: F. Starr & K. Martz 010728-1 (BISH), Oppenheimer H60116 (BISH, PTBG), Oppenheimer H60126 (BISH, PTBG)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Moloka‘i Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Oppenheimer, Hank L. (2003) (p. 4) Voucher cited: Oppenheimer H110143 (BISH, PTBG)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 174)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	introduced invasive	Csurhes, S./Edwards, R. (1998) (p. 130)
Perú Perú	Perú (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
La Réunion (France) La Réunion Island	La Réunion Island	introduced invasive	Lavergne, Christophe (2006) "Naturalisé/±envahissant"

Additional information:
Additional online information about Ruellia brevifolia is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Ruellia brevifolia as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Ruellia brevifolia may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

Other Latin names:  Ruellia graecizans Backer; Stephanophysum longifolium Pohl

References:

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1924. Voucher specimen #BISH 127802 (Bryan, E.H., Jr. 597).

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1924. Voucher specimen #BISH 127803 (Bryan, E.H., Jr. 597).

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1927. Voucher specimen #BISH 127806 (Parks, H.E. 20489).

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1927. Voucher specimen #BISH 127810 (Gillespie, J.W. 2945).

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1928. Voucher specimen #BISH 127804 (Gillespie, J.W. 4713).

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1928. Voucher specimen #BISH 127807 (Gillespie, J.W. 4535).

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1932. Voucher specimen #BISH 127809 (Meebold, A. 16924).

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1934. Voucher specimen #BISH 127805 (Smith, A.C. 1044).

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1953. Voucher specimen #BISH 127808 (Smith, A.C. 7503).

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1958. Voucher specimen #BISH 33852 (Parham, J.W. 11418).

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1993. Voucher specimen #BISH 633559 (Regalado, J. 556).

Csurhes, S./Edwards, R. 1998. Potential environmental weeds in Australia: Candidate species for preventative control. Canberra, Australia. Biodiversity Group, Environment Australia. 208 pp.

Dassanayake, M. D., gen. ed. 1994. A revised handbook to the flora of Ceylon. Vol VIII. Amerind Pub. Co., New Delhi. 458 pp.

Lavergne, Christophe. 2006. List des especes exotiques envahissantes a La Reunion. Unpublished manuscript (Excel file). .

Oppenheimer, Hank L. 2003. New plant records from Maui and Hawai‘i Counties. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2001-2002. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 73:3-30.

Smith, Albert C. 1991. Flora Vitiensis nova: a new flora of Fiji. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Kauai, Hawaii. Volume 5. 626 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2009. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).