''Justicia austrocapensis'' is a species of

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

in the Acanthus family commonly known as the Cape tube-tongue or chuparrosa. ''J. austrocapensis'' is characterized by solitary, pink, two-lipped tubular flowers up to long that emerge from the leaf axils. It is one of two '' Justicia'' species

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the Cape region of

Baja California Sur Baja California Sur (; 'South Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California Sur ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California Sur), is the least populated state and the 31st admitted state of the 32 federal ent ...

, the other being the larger, shrubby, red-flowered '' Justicia purpusii''. It is most similar to other species formerly placed in ''Siphonoglossa'', such as '' Justicia sessilis'' of the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

Description

''Justicia austrocapensis'' is a

that grows to tall. The young stems are square-shaped and may be furrowed. The foliage, stems, flowers and fruits are covered in pubescent, non-glandular

hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and f ...

s. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are subsessile to petiolate, with the petioles up to long, eventually reducing to stubs along the stem once the leaves have fallen. The leaves are ovate and entire, measuring long by wide. The tip of the leaf is acute to acuminate, while the base of the leaf is acute to cordate to truncate. Flowering and fruiting is from September to December and April to May. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is a dichasia emerging from the axils of the leaves (with the distal leaves sometimes being reduced and

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

-like), usually bearing a solitary flower. The dichasia is subsessile to sessile, with a short peduncle only up to long. The bracteoles are sessile and reach up to long. The flowers are sessile, and have a 4-lobed calyx long. The two-lipped corolla is a rose-pink with a white and darker-pink crow's-foot shaped pattern on the spreading lower lip. The corolla measures up to long, and the corolla tube long. The fruit is a capsule long, held on a stipe up to long. There are 4 seeds, each up to long, white in immaturity, turning brown when mature.

Distribution and habitat

''Justicia austrocapensis'' is

to the Cape region of

, the far southern portion of the peninsula characterized by the

Sierra de la Laguna The Sierra de la Laguna is a mountain range at the southern end of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico, and is the southernmost range of the Peninsular Ranges System. It is located in La Paz Municipality and Los Cabos Municipality of sout ...

and the San Lucan scrub. It is found in the non-desert portions of the mountains and lowlands of the Cape. ''J. austrocapensis'' is usually associated with the

tropical deciduous forest The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest is a habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature and is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive ...

and pine-oak forests of the region at elevations of . It usually occurs on slopes, along watercourses, and in canyons and gulches.

References

External links

''Justicia austrocapensis'' at SEINet

''Justicia austrocapensis'' at Red de Herbarios del Noroeste de México

''Justicia austrocapensis'' on EncicloVida
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15333076 austrocapensis Flora of Baja California Sur Natural history of Baja California Sur Natural history of the Peninsular Ranges Endemic flora of Mexico Taxa named by Thomas Franklin Daniel