Name: acaulis means without a stem.
Synonym: Elytraria crenata; Elytraria lyrata; Elytraria marginata; Justicia acaulis; Tubiflora acaulis.
Region: Ghana, Nigeria, DRC, Angola, Botswana, Somalia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, India.
Habitat: deciduous woodland; rocky or sandy soils; up to 1000 m altitude.
BotanyHerb; perennial.
Stem: stemless; 1-several unbranched flowering stems, up to 30 cm tall.
Leaves: in a basal rosette; subsessile; elliptic to obovate; up to 18 cm long; hairy, particularly on the veins below; margin subentire to scalloped in the upper part.
Inflorescence: 1-several spikes; bluish green; held in tight apiculate, overlapping bluish green bracts.
Flowers: corolla white, lower lip and lateral lobes spreading, 2-lobed; often not opening.
Fruit: capsule ±5 mm long; hairless.