Dicotyledon

Acanthaceae -- The Acanthus Family

Sanchezia

General Information
	Distribution	Neotropical, with about 30 species, several of which are cultivated elsewhere.
	Habit	Erect shrubs, with quadrangular stems and thickened nodes.
	Leaves	Leaves opposite, connected by transverse ridges, with linear cystoliths, the blades crenate to serrate.
	Flowers	Inflorescences terminal, spicate, the spikes sometimes branched, the flowers fasciculate or solitary in axils of bracts; calyx deeply 5-partite, the segments oblong or lanceolate; corolla tube elongate, narrow, broadened above base, the lobes 5, contorted in bud, short, rounded, subequal, becoming recurved; fertile stamens 2, inserted deeply on corolla tube, the filaments exerted, long-pilose, the locules 2, parallel; staminodes 2, filiform; ovary locules with 3 or 4 ovules, the style with the anterior arm longer than the posterior one.
	Fruit	Capsule narrowly cylindric.
	Seeds	The seeds usually 6-8.