Justicia americana

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American Water-willow
Justicia americana
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Lamiales Family: Acanthaceae Genus: Justicia Species: J. americana
Binomial name
Justicia americana L.

American Water-willow (Justicia americana) is a herbaceous, aquatic flowering plant in the Acanthus family native to North America. It is the hardiest species in the genus Justicia, the other members of which being largely tropical and subtropical, and it is able to survive as far north as USDA zone 4. It is common throughout its range.

The plant grows partially submerged in still water, reaching up to 40 cm (1 ft. 4 in.) tall from a creeping rhizome. The leaves are 10 cm (4 in.), opposite, sessile, linear or lanceolate, and slightly crenelated. The flowers are born in opposite arrangement on spikes 3 cm (1 in.) long coming off a peduncle 10 cm (4 in.) long. Color ranges from white to pale lavender with the upper lip purple blushed and the lower lip mottled in dark purple. The lateral lobes are unadorned or slightly blushed. The anthers are dark rather than the usual yellow. Flowering is from May to October.^[1]

The creeping rhizome allows J. americana to form large colonies on or near the shorelines of still or slow waters.
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