Strobilanthes is a genus of about 250 species of flowering plant

Flowering plant

The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...

s in the family Acanthaceae

Acanthaceae

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

, mostly native to tropical Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

, but with a few species extending north into temperate regions of Asia.

Selected species

Strobilanthes acrocephalus Strobilanthes affinis Strobilanthes angustifrons Strobilanthes anisophyllus Strobilanthes atropurpureus Strobilanthes attenuata Strobilanthes auriculatus Strobilanthes bheriensis Strobilanthes bracteata Strobilanthes capitata Strobilanthes callosus Strobilanthes callosus Strobilanthes callosus Nees is a shrub found mainly in the low hills of the western ghats all along the west coast of India. Its standardized Hindi language name is Maruadona by which it is called in the state of Madhya Pradesh where it is also found... Strobilanthes cuneata Strobilanthes cusia Strobilanthes cyclus Strobilanthes dalhousieanus Strobilanthes divaricatus Strobilanthes dyerianus Strobilanthes ixiocephalus Strobilanthes extensa Strobilanthes flexicaulis Strobilanthes formosanus Strobilanthes forrestii Strobilanthes glandulifera Strobilanthes glutinosa Strobilanthes hamiltoniana Strobilanthes isophyllus Strobilanthes ixiocephalus Strobilanthes kunthiana Strobilanthes kunthiana Neelakurinji , is a shrub that used to grow abundantly in the shola grasslands of the Western Ghats in South India above 1800 metres... Strobilanthes lachenensis Strobilanthes lamiifolia Strobilanthes longespicatus Strobilanthes multidens Strobilanthes nutans Strobilanthes oliganthus Strobilanthes oligocephala Strobilanthes pentstemonoides Strobilanthes rankanensis Strobilanthes sabiniana Strobilanthes saccata Strobilanthes subnudata Strobilanthes tamburensis Strobilanthes tetraspermus Strobilanthes thomsonii Strobilanthes triflorus Strobilanthes urticifolia Strobilanthes wallichii Strobilanthes wallichii Strobilanthes wallichii, commonly known as Kashmir Acanthus, Hardy Persian Shield, Wild Petunia, or Kandali, is a herbaceous perennial which is native to the Himalayas... Strobilanthes yunnanensis

Strobilanthes atropurpureus is a temperate species, native to eastern Siberia

Siberia

Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...

; it is cultivated for its purple flowers.

Strobilanthes dyerianus (Persian Shield) is a tropical plant native to Myanmar

Myanmar

Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....

. It is grown for its dark green foliage with bright, metallic-purple stripes radiating outward from the central leaf vein. In proper conditions, it will also produce pale purple flowers. Persian Shield grows best outdoors in USDA

United States Department of Agriculture

The United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...

 zones 9 and 10, although it can survive in other zones as a houseplant given sufficient temperature, soil moisture and humidity.


Strobilanthes species are used as food plants by the larva

Larva

A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...

e of some Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera is a large order of insects that includes moths and butterflies . It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...

 species including Endoclita malabaracus

Endoclita

Endoclita is a genus of moths of the family Hepialidae. There are 60 described species found in eastern and southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent.- Species :*E. aboe - India*E. absurdus - China*E. actinidae - China...

, which has been recorded on S. callosus.