Prostrate Wild Petunia

Rare in our area but common in India especially after rains.

A much branched, prostrate to procumbent, herb with long internodes, twigs 4-angled, up to 50 cm long (pubescent when young). Leaves with 6-18 mm long hairy petiole; Lamina ovate-elliptic to deltoid, 1.5-7.5 x 1.2-4.5 sparsely hairy to almost glabrous, entire, ± acute at the apex. Flowers pale-purple to violete, 2.5-3 cm long, solitary axillary; bracteoles leafy, elliptic, 8-10 mm x 4-5 mm. Calyx lobes linear-subulate, 6-7 mm long ciliate, acute. Corolla sparsely hairy outside, tube infundibuliform, 1.5-2 cm long, limb lobes semi-orbicular, 1-1.5 cm x 8-10 mm, rounded. Staminal filaments glabrous, anthers oblong, c. 2.5 mm long. Ovary oblong, c. 3 mm pubescent; style up to 2 cm long, hairy. Capsule oblong, 1.8-2 cm long, hairy, 16-20-seeded. Seeds flat, orbicular, 3-4 mm across, marginally hairy.

Distribution: Endemic to Indo-Pakistan subcontinent.

Fl. Per.: June-March.

prostrate: lying done or prostrate, even though plants are usually more or less weakly erect.

Erect or decument perennial herb, up to c. 50 cm tall, sometimes scrambling and taller. Stems several, growing from a woody rootstock, variously pubescent or with more or less spreading hairs. Leaves opposite, elliptic, lanceolate to more or less broadly ovate, 4-10 cm long, usually pointed at the apex, almost hairless or pubescent, most densely so along the veins; petiole up to 2.5 cm long. Flowers axillary, solitary or 2-3 together; bracts lanceolate to broadly ovate, 7-23 mm long. Calyx 9-25 mm long, divided almost to the base; lobes filiform, ciliate-hairy. Corolla white, mauve or purple, short-lived; tube 14-28 mm long with cylindric part much shorter than the throat; lobes more or less broadly elliptic, 6-16 mm long and up to 15 mm wide; margin entire to crenate-dentate. Capsule narrowly oblanceolate or clavate, 15-24 mm long, finely velvety.

Frequent

Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. Also in Yemen, Oman, India, Sri Lanka, New Guinea and western Pacific Islands; possibly introduced in Southeast Asia.