Ruellia

Abstract: Neotropical ecosystems house levels of species diversity that are unmatched by any other region on Earth. One hypothesis to explain this celebrated diversity invokes a model of biotic interactions in which interspecific interactions drive diversification of two (or more) lineages. When the impact of the interaction on diversification is reciprocal, diversification of the lineages should be contemporaneous. Although past studies have provided evidence needed to test alternative models of diversification such as those involving abiotic factors (e.g., Andean uplift, shifting climatological regimes), tests of the biotic model have been stymied by lack of evolutionary time scale for symbiotic partners. In this study, we infer timescales for diversification of hummingbirds and a species-rich plant lineage that is ,50% hummingbird pollinated, Ruellia (Acanthaceae). Results demonstrate that hummingbirds originated about 20 million years before New World Ruellia and that all but one major hummingbird clade was extant before the plant group originated. Thus, the classic model of ‘‘diffuse co-evolution’’ between hummingbirds and this group of plants is rejected by our data. However, together with the observation that the Neotropical clade of Ruellia (,350 species) is far more species rich than its Old World sister group (,75 species), our results are consistent with the hypothesis that plant diversification in the Neotropics has been facilitated in part by a pre-existing diversity of hummingbirds. This hypothesis may find support in other lineages of Neotropical plants that similarly exhibit asymmetrical partitioning of species diversity in the Paleovs. Neotropics.

Abstract: Ruellia section Chiropterophila as here recognized contains 11 species endemic to areas in and around the transnational Volcanic Belt of Mexico: the Sierra Madre del Sur, the Balsas Depression, and the Altiplano. Most of these species are rare, and nearly half are known only from one or two collections. Of the remaining six, two are restricted to single states. One species described as new to science, Ruellia laslobasensis , is distinguished from a close relative by its smaller corollas, calyces, and fruits. Ruellia chilpancingana is placed into synonymy with R. sororia. Ruellia section Urceolata is synonymized with sect. Chiropterophila. Two species previously treated in sect. Chiropterophila, Ruellia petiolaris (as R. palmeri) and R. carmenaemiliae, are excluded from the section. Phylogenetic analyses using three chloroplast markers (trnC-trnR, trnG-trnS, psbA-trnH) and one nuclear marker (ITS + 5.8S) were conducted to test the monophyly of sect. Chiropterophila and to reconstruct relationships...

Abstract: Ruellia is a genus of flowering plants commonly known as Ruellias or Wild Petunias which belongs to the family Acanthaceae. It contains about 250 genera and 2500 species. Most of these are shrubs, or twining vines; some are epiphytes. Only a few species are distributed in temperate regions. They are distributed in Indonesia and Malaysia, Africa, Brazil, Central America and Pakistan. Some of these are used as medicinal plants. Many species of the genus has antinociceptive, antioxidant, analgesic, antispasmolytic, antiulcer, antidiabetic and anti-inflammatory properties. The phytochemicals constituents: glycosides, alkaloids, flavonoids and triterpenoids are present. The genus has been traditionally claimed to be used for the treatment of flu, asthma, fever, bronchitis, high blood pressure, eczema, and diabetes. The objective of this review article is to summarize all the pharmacological and phytochemical evaluations or investigations to find area of gap and endorse this genus a step towards commercial drug. Hence, further work required is to isolate and characterize the active compounds responsible for these activities in this plant and bring this genus plants to commercial health market to serve community with their potential benefits.

Abstract: Floral adaptation to pollination by bats is rare in Acanthaceae and only known from neotropical species. Two novel cases are described in detail from field observations. Harpochilus neesianus, a shrub endemic in NE Brazil, with long emergent thyrses, was seen being regularly visited by hovering glossophagine bats (Glossophaga soricina). Its large, pale lemon-green corollas are strongly bilabiate, a shape uncommon in the syndrome. The lower lip segments are recurved and the upper lip is reduced to a narrow, arcuate, tubular organ serving to support stamens and style. A sour, cabbage-like odour is released, and copious nectar is secreted by a voluminous disk. Pollen is transferred by the bat's upper, rear surface. Anthesis is confined to a single night. Chiropterophily in Ruellia eurycodon is deduced from the floral syndrome. The flowers of this shrub, studied in Goyas, Central Brazil, share the same features as Harpochilus except for the corolla shape, which conforms to the "short bell type" frequent in neotropical bat flowers. Based on literature sources, bat pollination is also predicted for Ruellia malaca and R. exostemma from Venezuela. The occurrence of this floral type in other genera of the family is briefly surveyed.