Justicia beckii Wassh & J. R. I. Wood

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

16. Justicia beckii Wassh & J. R. I. Wood , Kew Bull. 58 (4): 820. 2003. ( Wasshausen and Wood 2003: 820)

Type.

Bolivia • Caranavi , D. C. Wasshausen & J. R. I. Wood 2152 (lectotype US-00811134 , designated here, isolectotypes K, LPB, US-00731151 ) .

Description.

Shrub 1.5–2 m high; stems erect, glabrescent. Leaves with lamina 6.5–28 × 2.5–11 cm, oblong-elliptic to obovate, attenuate at both ends, entire, glabrous except for the minutely scurfy-puberulent veins beneath. Inflorescence a terminal panicle formed of shortly pedunculate spikes arising from the axils of the uppermost leaves; spikes 3–18 cm long; flowers imbricate; bracts 5–6 × 4–6 mm, elliptic, obtuse or shortly acute, rufous-scurfy-pubescent and coarsely ciliate; calyx 5 - lobed to just above the base, lobes 7–9 mm × 0.75–1 mm, one slightly larger than the others, linear-lanceolate, scurfy-pubescent; corolla 2.6–4 cm long, salmon-red, covered in numerous sessile glands, the lips 8–12 mm long, the upper lip entire, slightly hooded, lower lip 3 - lobed, the lobes 1.5 × 1 mm, oblong-ovate, rounded; anther thecae 1.75 × 0.5 mm, oblong, glabrous with a white basal appendage c. 0.5 mm long, superposed, parallel; pollen prolate, 2 - aperturate, colporate, 2–3 rows of insulae on either side of the aperture, sexine reticulate ( Wasshausen and Wood 2003: 811).

Illustration.

Wasshausen and Wood 2003: 822.

Distribution.

Andes of northern Bolivia and extreme south of Peru. Fig. 58 .

Material examined.

Peru • Puno: Prov. Sandia, along Río Tambopata between San Juan del Oro and San Ignacio, 1100 m, 8 June 1982, D. C. Wasshausen & A. Salas 1228 ( US) .

Lectotypification.

There are two sheets of Wasshausen & Wood 2152 at US annotated as holotype, so to avoid uncertainty we are designating US- 00811134 as lectotype as this was the sheet used in the preparation of the original description.

Note.

Closely related to J. aphelandroides , J. siraensis and J. rauhii . All four species share a very similar inflorescence with a long tubular corolla covered in very small, subsessile glands. Curiously, the fruit are not known from any of them except J. siraensis Justicia beckii has a dark red corolla, which is shorter than in the other species, being only 2.6 to 4 cm in length. Additionally, the bracts are distinctive in the four species. J. beckii has elliptic bracts, c. 6 mm long, which are scarcely longer than broad and with an obtuse or shortly acute apex. In J. rauhii and J. siraensis the bracts are oblong or lanceolate, acute, up to 10 mm long and at least three times as long as broad. In J. aphelandroides the bracts are ovate, about twice as long as broad and terminate in a long fine point. J. rauhii has yellow flowers.

Figures

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