Justicia rauhii Wassh

Villanueva-Espinoza, Rosa, Deng, Yunfei, Scotland, Robert & Wood, John R. I., 2025, Preliminary notes on Justicia (Acanthaceae) in Peru, PhytoKeys 258, pp. 1-123 : 1-123

14. Justicia rauhii Wassh . Beitr. Biol. Pflanzen 63: 428. 1988. ( Wasshausen 1988: 428)

Type.

Peru • Cusco, [Prov.] Paucartambo, Dist. Kosñipata, along roadside 3 km E of Atalaya, 9 km N of Pilcopa , D. C. Wasshausen & F. Encarnación 579 (holotype US- 00074193 ) .

Description.

Subshrub 1 m high. Leaves petiolate, lamina 11–23 × 4–8 cm, oblong-elliptic, tapered and distinctly acuminate at both ends; petiole 2.5–5 cm. Inflorescence of 1–3 dense, reddish, terminal spikes 4.5–7.5 cm long; rhachis pubescent with glandular hairs; bracts 7–10 × 3 mm, indurate, oblong, acute, c. 3 times as long as broad; bracteoles similar but narrower; calyx 5 - lobed, the lobes 9–10 × 1–1.2 mm, glandular-pubescent; corolla 3.5–4.5 cm long, yellow, papillate, tube c. 20 mm long, ± equalling lips, lower lip shallowly 3 - lobed, the lobes ovate, c. 2 mm long; anther thecae oblong, 3 × 0.75 mm, nearly parallel, strongly superposed, lower with white basal appendage; pollen prolate, 47 × 36 μm, 3 - aperturate, colporate with 1 row and a partially developed second row of insulae on either side of the aperture ( Wasshausen 1988: 427). Capsule and seeds not seen.

Illustration.

Fig. 12 ; Wasshausen 1988: 422, I – K.

Phenology.

Although found in flower in February and October, flowering is principally in the June to August period.

Habitat.

Lowland rainforest, 400– 760 m.

Distribution.

Endemic to southern Peru in Cusco and Madre de Dios. Fig. 58 .

Material examined.

Peru • Cusco: Prov. Paucartambo, Dist. Kosñipata, lumber Trail north of Pilcopata , 580 m, 27 June 1975, D. C. Wasshausen & F. Encarnación 586 (K, US) ; • ibid., Kosñipata [Pilcopata], Fundo Santa Alicia, 13°05'S, 71°10'W, 700 m, 3 Feb. 1985, A. Tupayachi 2 ( MO, US) , • ibid., Pilcopata-Atalaya, 450–550 m, 5 Aug. 1956, C. Vargas 11291 ( CUZ, US) ; • ibid., 760 m, 4 June 1964, C. Vargas 15516 ( US) ; • ibid., along roadside 3 km E of Atalaya, 9 km N of Pilcopata, 600 m, 26 June 1975, D. C. Wasshausen & F. Encarnación 608 ( US) ; • ibid., along lumber Trail N of Pilcopata, 580 m, 27 June 1975, D. C. Wasshausen & F. Encarnación 609 ( US) . • Madre de Dios: Prov. Manu, P. N. Manu, Quebrada Fierro, first significant tributary of Río Manu upriver from Tayakome, 11°22'S, 71°58'W, 400 m, July 1988, G. Shepard 2043 (F) ; • ibid., Río Sotileja, 11°40'S, 71°55'W, 400 m, 8 Oct. 1986, R. Foster & B. d´Achille 11692 (F) ; • ibid., Dist. Fitzacarrald, Com. Nat. Yomibato , across river from Oscar´s new garden, 13 July 1996, G. Shepard 995 ( USM) .

Figures

Figure 12. Photographs of A, B Justicia appendiculata. Note the distinctive whitish-green bracts. C – D Justicia rauhii. Note distinctive yellow corollas. A, B Rosa Villanueva, C, D Isau Huamantupa.

Figure 58. Distribution of Justicia beckii (yellow triangles), J. rauhii (green circles) and J. siraensis (red squares) in Peru.