Based on the syllabus prescribed by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University for B. Sc.II Botany, paper: VII- Taxonomy of Angiosperms.

1. Family Acanthaceae
Dr. A.S.Naik

2. Classification
• Kingdom: Plantae
• Subdiv.:Angiosperms
• Class: dicotyledons
• Sub class: Gamopetalae
• Series: Bicarpellatae
• Order:Personales
• Family:Acanthaceae

3. Distribution, Habit and habitat
• 250 genera and about 2500 species.
• Most are tropical plants. Only a few species are distributed
in temperate regions.
• The four main centres of distribution are Indonesia
and Malaysia, Africa, Brazil, and Central America.
• Can be found in variety of habitats,
including forests, scrublands, wet fields and valleys,
sea coast and marine areas, swamps, and mangrove forests.
• Mostly herbs. Or shrubs. Few epiphytes.

4. Description
Leaves-Simple,opposite,
decussated leaves with
entire (or toothed, lobed,
or spiny) margins,
exstipulate with cystoliths
Inflorescence-Condensed
dichasial cyme or
solitary,axillary or
racemose spike

5. Adhatoda Crossandra
Barleria
Thunbergia

6. Floral morphology
• Flowers are
perfect, zygomorphic to actinom
orphic
• Typically, a
colorful bract subtends each
flower.
• The calyx usually has four or five
lobes;
• Corolla tubular, two-lipped or
five-lobed.
• Androecium-stamens number
either two or four, arranged in
pairs and inserted on the corolla.
• Gynoecium- ovary is superior and
bicarpellated, with
axile placentation

7. Description-2
• The fruit is a two-
celled capsule,
dehiscing somewhat
explosively.
• seeds are attached to a
small, hooked stalk (a
modified funiculus
called a jaculator or a
retinaculum) that
ejects
them from the capsule

8. Adhatoda vasica

10. Economic Importance
• Ornamentals- Barleria, Crossandra, Justicia
Ruellia, Thunbergia.
• Dye yielding: Blue dye from leaves of
Strobilanthes cusia.
• Medicinal:1.Adhatoda vasica-leaf extracts
used for cough, bronchitis, asthama. 2.Seeds
of Barleria cristata used to treat
snakebite.3.Leaves and seeds of Hygrophylla
spinata used to cure jaundice.