Perennial herbs, erect or prostrate, or shrubs. Leaves simple, opposite, petiolate or sessile; margins entire. Inflorescence axillary or terminal; either solitary or in cymes or panicles; bracts inconspicuous. Flowers often showy in cultivated species, red, yellow, purple or white. Calyx deeply 5-partite; lobes linear or lanceolate. Corolla tube usually straight, with 5 ± equal lobes. Stamens 4, didynamous. Fruit a capsule. Seeds 4-20 flattened, ovate or orbicular on strong retinacula. Derivation of name: After Jean de la Ruelle, 1474 - 1537, French physician and botanist. Worldwide: 250 species in tropical and temperate regions. Botswana: 3 taxa. |
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