Ruellia noctiflora (Nees) A. Gray

Night Flowering Wild Petunia; Night Blooming Wild Petunia

Herb

Perennial

Vascular

Night Flowering Wild Petunia is a native herbaceous perennial in the Acanthus family (Acanthaceae). It is native to the southern tier of counties in Alabama. Night Flowering Wild Petunia occurs low pine flatwoods, in pitcher plant bogs, in seeps, and in wet roadside ditches. It is a perennial with a knotty caudex and thickened roots. Each root crown produced 1-5 upright stems up to 2 feet in height. The stems are green to purplish in color, angled, with distinct joints, and pubescent. The leaves are opposite, sessile or with short petioles, elliptic to lanceolate in outline, with entire margins. The leaves are pubescent on both surfaces. Flowers are produced in the axils of the leaves towards the top of the plant. The calyx has 5 linear lobes and is pubescent. The calyx persists around the fruit. The corolla is funnel shaped with along tubular basal portion and 5 spreading lobes. The flowers are bright white in color. The flowers open at night and wither by mid-morning. They are pollinated by hawk moths (Family Sphingidae). The fruit is a cylindrical capsule with 6-10 seed. Night Flowering Wild Petunia is listed as a S1 species in Alabama (typically 5 or fewer occurrences, very few remaining individuals, acres, or miles of stream, or some factor of its biology making it especially vulnerable in the state), and globally as a G2 species (imperiled globally because of rarity (6 - 20 occurrences, or few remaining acres, or miles of stream) or very vulnerable to extinction throughout its range because of other factors).--A. Diamond

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Native FACW (NWPL) FACW (DEP) S1 (State Rank) G2 (Global Rank)

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