Dicliptera brachiata Spreng.

Branched Foldwing; Wild Mudwort; False Mint

Herb

Perennial

Vascular

Branched Foldwing is a native herbaceous perennial in the Acanthus family (Acanthaceae). It is native to much of Alabama. Branched Foldwing occurs on the banks of streams and rivers, and in hardwood floodplain forests. It is a perennial from a short rhizome. Stems are erect, green in color, glabrous or pubescent, and freely branched. The stems are angled with swollen nodes, and 2-3 feet in height. Leaves are opposite, petiolate, ovate to lanceolate in outline, glabrous or short pubescent, with entire margins. Flowers are produced in sub-sessile axillary or terminal spikes or cymes. The calyx is pubescent with 5 lobes. The corolla is funnelform and 2-lipped. It is pubescent on the outer surface. The corolla is pink or purple in color with the upper lip marked with white. The fruit is a flattened capsule with 2-4 round seed. Branched Foldwing is the larval food plant for the Texan Crescent Butterfly (Anthanassa texana). Branched Foldwing is occasionally available from native plant nurseries. It can also be grown from seed or rooted from cuttings. Branched Foldwing prefers a rich, moist soil in partial shade.—A. Diamond

The epithet is based on the name Justicia brachiata Pursh (1813) non. Rich. (1792). However the Pursh name is not the basionym because it is illegitimate.

Native FACW (NWPL) G5 (Global Rank)

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