Natural Area Weeds: Mexican Petunia (Ruellia simplex)

Minor Revision. Ruellia simplex (Mexican bluebell, Mexican petunia, or Britton's wild petunia) is an herbaceous perennial (USDA Hardiness Zone 8–11) in the family Acanthaceae. Five species of Ruellia are native to Florida, and three non-native species are listed as naturalized in the state, including R. simplex (Wunderlin et al. 2019). There has been some confusion about the name of this species, commonly referred to as Ruellia brittoniana, Ruellia coerulea, Ruellia tweediana, orRuellia malacosperma (USDA NRCS 2019; Wunderlin et al. 2019). Ruellia simplex C. Wright was the name used when this species was first described in Cuba in 1870; therefore, it has taxonomic priority (Ezcurra and Daniel 2007). This name is now widely used in the horticultural trade and amongst state agencies and will therefore be used in this publication. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ep415