Mexican petunia
Ruellia simplex C.Wright
- light
- Sun–part
- water
- Medium
- tall
- 91 cm
- wide
- 76 cm
Acanthaceae
Also called Mexican Ruellia, Mexican bluebell, Mexican Blue-Bells
Formerly Arrhostoxylum microphyllum, Cryphiacanthus angustifolius, Ruellia coerulea, Ruellia ignorantiae, and 3 more
When it flowers
Flowers all year in the tropics.
Read from iNaturalist photographs of it in flower. A month counts at 50% of the best month's flowering share (smoothed over three months) and 10% of its flowering count, from at least 100 flowering observations in the band.
If a child, a pet or anyone may have eaten a plant, contact a doctor or vet straight away, or call the National Poisons Information Centre (AIIMS, New Delhi) on 1800 116 117, free and open 24 hours.
Something wrong with it?About it
- Grows as
- Perennial or subshrubKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Climate
- SubtropicalKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Wild in
- Mexico to Trop. AmericaKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Light
- Full sun to part shade (3 h or more)Read from NC State Extension, one source
- Height
- 91 cmRead from NC State Extension and Wikipedia, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: NC State Extension 2–3 ft; Wikipedia 3–3 ft
- Spread
- 61 cm to 91 cmRead from NC State Extension, one source
- Water
- Average: moist, well drainedRead from NC State Extension, one source
- Flowers
- PurpleRead from NC State Extension and Wikipedia, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: NC State Extension purple, violet; Wikipedia blue, purple
- Coldest it survives
- -12.2 °C (USDA zone 8a)Read from NC State Extension, one source
Not known yet: heat, hottest it survives.
In other languages (12)
- Chinese
- 人字草, 翠蘆莉, 紫花蘆利草、翠蘆莉、人字草
- Japanese
- ヤナギバルイラソウ
- Spanish
- Petunia mexicana, té negro
- Portuguese
- Ruélia-azul
- Chinese (China)
- 蓝花草, 狭叶翠芦莉, 翠芦莉
- French
- Pétunia mexicain
- Thai
- ต้อยติ่งฝรั่ง
- Russian
- Руэллия простая
- Ukrainian
- Руелія проста
- Slovak
- vencovník obyčajný
- Turkish
- Meksika Petunyası
- German
- Mexikanische Petunie
Where this comes from
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-24, CC0-1.0 (observation counts)
- Wikidata, read 2026-10-24, CC0-1.0
- Kew's checklist, read 2026-10-24, CC-BY-4.0
- NC State Extension, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- Wikipedia, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- Wikimedia Commons, read 2026-10-24, CC BY-SA 4.0
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC0
- 3D model: Ruellia simplex (built for Vanagrha) by Vanagrha, own
A fact “checked by a majority of its sources” was settled by a vote of the pages it was read from, not by a person reading it; one marked “one source” rests on that page alone. Anything else not marked checked has not been checked yet. Where nothing is known, the page says so rather than guess.