Mexican Petunia
Ruellia simplex
Family: Acanthaceae
A vigorous perennial growing 3-6’ tall and as wide. Reseeds vigorously, and is weedy in irrigated areas. Purple flower in warm weather, almost year round. There many selections of this species including two dwarf selections, ‘Katie’ is dwarf, purple-flowering, and ‘Rosa’ is dwarf, pink-flowering, ‘Chi Chi’ is pink with narrow leaves.
Full sun to shade, regular water, hardy to 15°F but freezes to the ground with frost—regrowing vigorously almost immediately.
Flowers attract hummingbirds and other nectar-feeding organisms. Larval food plant for the following butterfly species:
Malachite (Siproeta stelenes ssp. biplagiata)
Rosita Patch (Chlosyne rosita)
Pale-banded Crescent (Anthanassa tulcis)
Fritzgaertner's Flat (Celaenorrhinus fritzgaertneri)
Ruellia simplex chemical compounds shown to have the anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, anti-oxidant and anti-cancer potential.
There are 370 species of Ruellia around the world usually in the tropics and subtropics. The genus was named in honor of Jean Ruelle (1474–1537), herbalist and physician to Francis I of France and translator of several works of Dioscorides. The specific epithet simplex means undivided, entire, single. Formerly known as Ruellia brittonia.
Native to Mexico, the West Indies, western Bolivia, southwestern Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and northeastern Argentina in a wide range of environmental conditions, from wetlands to almost xeric habitats
The variety 'Katie' is a compact variety that only reaches 1-2' tall, photo by Johnson Nursery
The variety 'Rosa' is a pink-flowering, compact variety that only gets 1-2' tall, photo by Mountain States Nursery
The variety 'Southern Star' is a similar, compact selection that comes in many colors.