Parry'S Wild Petunia

Description

Ruellia parryi is a perennial species, producing short, lightly branched stems that become woody with age. Leaves grow on short petioles (less than half an inch long); they are oval in shape and their edges are lined with relatively thick, bristly hairs. Leaf surfaces have a covering of shorter hairs. Leaf margins are often purplish. Flowers are large compared with the leaves; the purple, tubular corolla is 1.5 inches long, opening to five, wide lobes which have darker, lengthwise veins. The inside of the flower tube is light green. The outside of the corolla also has a covering of short hairs, and the corolla edges are slightly irregular.