English: Himalayan ruellia; Sticky acanth; Papleaf; Salt of the cow.
Zulu: umhlonyane.
Name: from Greek phaulos meaning ‘slight’ or ‘trivial’, and opsis, meaning ‘appearance’; imbricata is a Latin word meaning ‘overlapping in a regular order’.
Clades:
AcanthaceaeRegion: Africa, South Africa, Kenya, Sengal, Gambia, Comoros,
Madagascar, Réunion; Arabia, Eastern Himalaya, China, Indo-China.
Habitat: semi-shade, indirect sunlight; as undergrowth in forests, on forest margins, in woodland, scrub, kloofs, on hillsides;can also climb into close by trees; warm climates; prefers well-drained, fertile soil, regular water in summer.
Ecology: near-threatened; larval host plants of the butterflies great eggfly, tiny grass blue, brown pansy, soldier pansy and marbled elf.
Use: good fodder; young leaves as a vegetable; medicine; ornamental, groundcover, easy to grow.
BotanyShrub, herb, bushy; perennial; 1 m tall.
Stem: at first grow flat on the ground; later vertical; sub-quadrangular when young, later rounded; green to brownish-green; ± 2 mm thick; covered with soft white hairs.
Leaves: opposite; asymmetrical, one leaf is larger than the other; asymmetric at the base; dark green on the upper surface, slightly paler on the lower surface; covered with soft hairs.
Inflorescence: short spikes; sticky; terminal.
Flowers: small, tiny; white; pretty; 5 calyx lobes; broad, overlapping bracts at the base; flowering late summer, autumn and early winter; unpleasant smell, as of a mature ram; unpleasant smell.
Fruit: capsule; 8-9 mm long; with 2 locules with 2 seeds each, exploding when ripe.
Pollination: by butterfly, bees.
Propagation: by tip cuttings, roots, seeds.
ReferencesBurkill, H.M. 1985. The useful plants of west tropical Africa, 2nd edition. Vol. 1: Families A–D. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF).
Phaulopsis imbricata (Forssk.) Sweet. https://www.gbif.org/species/7501398. Accessed on 12/09/2023.
Kamundi, D.A. 2006.
Phaulopsis imbricata (Forssk.) Sweet subsp. imbricata. National Assessment: Red List of South African
Plants version 2020.1. Accessed on 02/09/2023.
Mziray, W. 1992. Taxonomic studies in Toddalieae Hook. F. (
Rutaceae) in Africa. Symbolae Botanicae Upsaliensis 30-31: 126-128.
Nichols, G. 2005. Growing rare plants: a practical handbook on propagating the threatened plants of southern Africa. Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 36.
Plants of the World Online,
Phaulopsis imbricata (Forssk.) Sweet. https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:53010-1. Accessed 4 Oct. 23.
Pooley, E. 1998. A field guide to wild flowers Kwazulu-Natal and the eastern region. Natal Flora Publications Trust, Durban.
Wikipedia,
Phaulopsis imbricata. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phaulopsis_imbricata. Accessed on 11/09/2023.
World Flora Online.
Phaulopsis imbricata Sweet. https://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-0000393137. Accessed on 11/09/2023.