Or can the calyx of this plant resemble an open capsule?
Thank you in advance.
I found this illustration
http://www.efloras.org/object_page.aspx?object_id=86918&flora_id=5
Thank you very much for your effort and opinion.
Best regards,
Jacek Drobnik
Dear Dr Drobnik,
I am not sure if this query is still relevant for you.
Justicia adhatoda bears club-shaped capsules, that are green and soft when immature and turns yellow, then brown and woody as they mature.
The leaf like structures in the inflorescence are the bracts and bracteoles. The only similarity that these leaf-like structures have with the immature fruit (capsule) is its green colour, which might hide the fruit from a distance. But then as you go close to the plant you can distinguish the fruit which many a times also bear persistent style on it.
Please check the image (attached herewith) of the plant with inflorescence bearing fruit.
Best
Eapsa
Dear Dr Berry, thank you for your comment and the jpg. I studied the problem of identification of Chinese plants by European botanist, Antoine de Jussieu in the 1730's. THe Europeans did not know Asian flora in that time, had no reference material (either in materia medica collections or in herbaria). And Jussieu suspected some fruits to be J. adhatoda (a plant they must have had in a botanical garden). In fact the specimen he misidentified was the fruit of Forsythia sp., a well-known Chinese medicinal plant. I checked that Forsythia and Justicia have somehow similar fruits. Thank you for your description (esp. the color of matured fruits and the persistent style).
I published my results here: www.dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2016.04.055
Best regards,
Dear Dr Drobnik, thank you for the background information.
Best regards.
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