Justicia protracta subsp. protracta flower

The flowers of Justicia protracta subsp. protracta grow in small clusters from leaf axils. There are narrow, leaf-like bracts below the deeply five-lobed, hairy calyx.

The corolla is typical of Justicia, i.e. two-lipped, the smaller upper lip oblong and erect, often slightly hooded from a forward-curving tip. The style is positioned in a central channel of the upper lip, slightly exserted from its tip. There are red-purple line markings near the margins on a white background on the inner surface of this lip.

The lower lip is three-lobed, the central one bigger, the lateral ones rounded on the outside and slightly longer than the central one. A blue-purple to red-purple central blotch on the middle lobe spreads in parallel line projections, while white lines inside the blotch follow the outer, coloured ones.

The corolla surface is faintly downy and about 1 cm in diameter. There are two stamens (Pooley, 1998; iNaturalist; www.theplantlibrary.co.za).