- Description:
Plants are covered with long, spreading hairs. Ovate leaves are opposite on
slender, sprawling or ascending stems. Large, lavender, funnel-shaped flowers are usually
solitary in the leaf axils.
- Comments:
The flowers of Fringe-leaf Ruellia are large and showy, but plants can be
overlooked in dense prairie vegetation. Flowers tend to drop off easily when the plant is
handled. Another name for this plant is “wild petunia” because of its
resemblance to the garden plants. Plants are palatable to livestock. Caterpillars of the
buckeye butterfly feed on the foliage. Plants are easily grown from seed. Fringe-leaf
Ruellia can withstand extreme drought. It is found in the eastern half of Kansas and is
common on upland prairies.
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