 |
| Wild petunia (Ruellia caroliniensis) among neighbors |
A small purple flower often peaks out from beneath other plants this time of year (late spring/early summer). Each flower lasts only a day so it seems that if you go back to look for it, it has disappeared. It generally is about 12 inches in height but can be taller, depending on conditions (the deer nip the tops of mine occasionally). I recently found it blooming in a clipped lawn where it had been cut back to about 3 inches! Seeing it in that lawn is just confirmation for me that this has been a very good year for our most distributed native wild petunia (
Ruellia caroliniensis).
Native throughout Georgia and into all the adjacent states, this modest perennial is in the Acanthaceae family which frankly contains a lot of plants that I’ve never heard of because only a few members are in temperate regions like ours. They are not related to the old-fashioned petunias that we buy in the garden center. However, one non-native member of the Ruellia genus is sold in stores:
Ruellia brittoniana is often referred to as Mexican petunia. It is much taller, may sucker, and is a more robust species; it has escaped cultivation in Florida where it is now listed as a Category 1 invasive plant. It may be listed as
Ruellia caerulea, R. simplex, or
R. tweediana.
 |
| Flowers on Ruellia caroliniensis |
 |
| Bud with hairy stems |
Carolina wild petunia has opposite leaves and is sometimes called hairy petunia because of the soft hairs on the stems and leaves. The color on the flowers can vary from almost white to purple with many hues in between. The flowers turn into dry capsules which contain small seeds that will be ejected away from the original plant. I have found this plant to be difficult to pull up due to tenacious roots but that same characteristic helps it to be fairly drought tolerant. Since I have found out that it is one of the host plants for the Common Buckeye butterfly (and the White Peacock in more southern areas), I have been more accepting of its increasing presence in the garden.
Georgia has five other native species of
Ruellia, including the rare night-flowering wild petunia,
Ruellia noctiflora. Keep an eye out for these summer-blooming native perennials.
 |
| Plants nipped by deer are a little bushier Ruellia caroliniensis |
We have this in our back yard! Now please do not ask me how tall the grass is, my husband will not cut it while this beauty is growing! And I can tell you we have always had it but this is indeed, the best year ever.
ReplyDeleteIt is beautiful. (We only learned this name of this flower this year after research. So happy to learn it is host plant for the common buckeye butterfly!)