Phaulopsis dorsiflora – Himalayan Ruellia

Larval Host Plant

Zizula hylax – Tiny Grass Blue
Hypolimnas bolina – Great Eggfly

ab763 , ab764

Other notes

Natural History: A perennial sub-shrub found from India to Indo-china. The name reflects the small white flowers borne on the backside of the leafy spikes. Flowering season is from November to May (Flowers of India, 2022).

 

Note: Phaulopsis imbricata Sweet does not occur in Indian subcontinent (POWO, 2022 & Manktelow, 1996). Therefore, previously reported records of P. imbricata from India must be P. dorsiflora (BSI, 2022).

 

References:

Nitin, R., V. C. Balakrishnan, P. V. Churi, S. Kalesh, S. Prakash, and K. Kunte. 2018. Larval host plants of the butterflies of the Western Ghats, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 10:11495–11550. DOI: https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3104.10.4.11495-11550.

WFO (2022): World Flora Online. Accessed on 21 Dec 2022. URL: http://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-0001228936.

Flowers of India (2022). Accessed on 21 Dec 2022. URL: https://www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Himalayan%20Ruellia.html.

Manktelow, M. (1996). Phaulopsis (Acanthaceae) : a monograph.

POWO (2022): Plants of the World Online. Accessed on 17 Dec 2022. URL: https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/331849-2.

BSI (2022): Botanical Survey of India. Accessed on 21 Dec 2022. URL: https://efloraindia.bsi.gov.in/eFlora/speciesDesc_PCL.action?species_id=24678.

 

Page citation

Kawthankar, N. 2024. Phaulopsis dorsiflora (Retz.) Santapau – Himalayan Ruellia. In Kunte, K., S. Sondhi, and P. Roy (Chief Editors). Butterflies of India, v. 4.12. Published by the Indian Foundation for Butterflies. URL: https://www.ifoundbutterflies.org/phaulopsis-dorsiflora, accessed 2024/04/24.