Justicia cooleyi is a rare species of flowering plant in the acanthus family

Acanthaceae

The family Acanthaceae is a taxon of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing almost 250 genera and about 2500 species....

 known by the common name Cooley's water-willow. It is endemic to Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 in the United States, where it occurs in three counties. It is a federally listed endangered species

Endangered species

An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...

.

This plant can be found on the Brooksville Ridge of Florida in Hernando

Hernando County, Florida

Hernando County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2000, the population was 130,802. The U.S. Census Bureau 2006 estimate for the county is 165,409 . Its county seat is Brooksville, Florida. The majority of the county's population is in Spring Hill, west portion of Hernando...

 and Sumter Counties

Sumter County, Florida

Sumter County is a county located in the state of Florida, United States. As of the 2000 Census, the population was 53,345. The 2006 Census estimate puts its population at 68,768 . Its county seat is Bushnell, Florida and the largest incorporated municipality is Wildwood, Florida. The Villages,...

. It is also reported from Lake County

Lake County, Florida

Lake County is a county located in the state of Florida, United States. As of the 2000 Census, the population was 210,528. The Census Bureau estimated the population in 2008 to be 307,243. Its county seat is Tavares...

. Its exact abundance is not known because of the lack of recent comprehensive surveys. In 2000 there were seventeen occurrences.

This is a rhizomatous

Rhizome

In botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...

 perennial herb growing erect, hairy, square-edged stems up to about half a meter tall. The oppositely arranged leaves are up to 7 centimeters long. The flower has tubular purplish corollas about a centimeter long, with lips marked with white.

This is a member of the flora in hardwood forests with sandy or silty substrates over limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 rock. The forests are dominated by magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora), black gum (Nyssa sylvatica), cabbage palm

Sabal palmetto

Sabal palmetto, also known as cabbage palm, palmetto, cabbage palmetto, palmetto palm, blue palmetto, Carolina palmetto, common palmetto, swamp cabbage and sabal palm, is one of 15 species of palmetto palm . It is native to the southeastern United States, Cuba, and the Bahamas...

 (Sabal palmetto), pignut hickory (Carya glabra), laurel oak (Quercus laurifolia), live oak (Quercus virginiana), water oak (Quercus nigra), winged elm (Ulmus alata), sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), sugarberry

Celtis laevigata

Celtis laevigata is a medium-sized tree native to North America. Common names include Sugarberry, Southern Hackberry, or in the southern U.S. Sugar Hackberry or just Hackberry....

 (Celtis laevigata). Other plants in the understory

Understory

Understory is the term for the area of a forest which grows at the lowest height level below the forest canopy. Plants in the understory consist of a mixture of seedlings and saplings of canopy trees together with understory shrubs and herbs...

 include hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana), dwarf palmetto (Sabal minor), American beautyberry

Callicarpa americana

American Beautyberry is an open-habit, native shrub of the Southern United States which is often grown as an ornamental in gardens and yards...

 (Callicarpa americana), and yaupon holly (Ilex vomitoria).

The main threat to this rare plant is habitat destruction. Much of its forest habitat has been lost to residential and agricultural

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

 development and limestone mining. Remaining habitat is degraded by the presence of invasive plant species

Invasive species

"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....

, particularly skunkvine

Paederia foetida

Paederia foetida is a species of plant, with common names that are variations of Skunkvine; Stinkvine; or Chinese Fever Vine...

 (Paederia foetida) and air potato

Dioscorea bulbifera

Dioscorea bulbifera, the Air potato, is a yam species. It is also known as Varahi in Sanskrit, Kaachil in Malayalam and Dukkar Kand in Marathi. The Air potato plant is native to Africa and Asia.-Description:...

 (Dioscorea bulbifera), which form a thick groundcover

Groundcover

Groundcover refers to any plant that grows over an area of ground, used to provide protection from erosion and drought, and to improve its aesthetic appearance .- Ecosystem :...

that chokes out native plants. The construction and maintenance of roads also threaten the plant and its habitat.