Plant Families: Acanthus and Water Plantain

We’re nine feet deep in winter now. Icicles dangle from eaves like prehistoric chandelier and Bigfoot‘s been spotted going through the trash. Beneath all this, winter’s heavy hand, conjuring wildflowers is something even Merlin would find challenging. Sure, Skunk Cabbage may be just around the corner, but that corner’s still several blocks away. Specific blossoms are simply too painful for me to visualize at a time when the sun disappears by four in the afternoon.

Rather than wrestle with fleeting memories of summers past, and the impossible dream of spring to come, I thought I would write about the various families these many wildflowers belong to. By the time I get through all those, Skunk Cabbage will be just around the corner. It may be as tedious as the terminology, but it’ll also prove useful (I hope).

So fasten your seat beats and hold on tight (and try to stay awake, I dare you)...

Acanthaceae, or the Acanthus family.

This family of herbs and shrubs consists of about 2,600 species in about 250 genera. They are native to temperate and tropical regions, and many are cultivated as ornamentals.

The flowers are often bilaterally symmetrical, with showy bracts. The corolla consists of 4 to 5 united petals, usually with a 2-lobed upper lip and a 3-lobed lower lip. There are 4 or 5 sepals and either 2 or 4 stamens. These bits are all attached at the base of the ovary.

The leaves of these plants are simple (an undivided blade), opposite, with smooth margins and pale streaks or bumps.

The fruit is a 2-celled capsule.

Water Willow (Justicia americana), grows along shallow streams, lakes and ponds, and can be found from Vermont and New York south to Georgia, west to Texas and north, up into Missouri, Kansas and Wisconsin. A cultivated cousin, Chuparosa honeysuckle (J. californica), is very drought tolerant, and can be found in the desert areas of Arizona and Southern and Baja California.

My own experience with this family has been limited to Wild Petunia (Ruellia pedunculata), also know as Stalked Ruellia. It is another of those plain, weedy looking plants that surprises you with colorful trumpet-shaped flowers. It grows in rich soil from Illinois and Missouri south to Arkansas and Louisiana, west to Texas and Oklahoma. As it’s common name implies, the blossoms resemble petunias. Many cultivated varieties come from Brazil.

Alismataceae, or the Water Plantain family.

This family includes 90 species in about 13 genera. They are widely distributed in shallow freshwater or muddy habitats, and grow in warm temperate regions.

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