Species
+

Justicia gendarussa Burm.fil.

Dusa keling, Mami vavi, Warer willow, White Justicia

Climate known 49 photographs
Add one to my plants Sow seed

Every figure on this page is derived from public data by a stated rule and says its source; nothing here is written by a person or a model, except the Wikipedia passage, which is quoted and marked as such. How it is made.

Summary

Justicia gendarussa, commonly known as Willow-leaved justicia, Lapsulis in Creole Seychelles; is a small erect, branched shrub. According to Plants of the World Online it is native to the Indian subcontinent, Indochina, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, the Philippines, and New Guinea, and has been introduced to Nepal, the western Himalayas, Pakistan, southern China including Hainan and Taiwan, eastern Africa, and the Mascarene Islands, Comoro Islands, and Seychelles. It has been described as rare and endemic to India, though those claims are at least confusing, in the context of statements that the plant is widely used in various forms for many of its medicinal and insecticidal properties, and that it is a quick-growing, evergreen forest shrub considered to be a native of China and distributed in Sri Lanka, India and Malaysia.

Text from Wikipedia, “Justicia gendarussa”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written. Kept separate from everything derived here.

Family
Acanthaceae
Described by
Burm.fil.
Native to
Assam, Bangladesh, East Himalaya +12
Wild records
409 in range· 318 open

At a glance

Warmest month
32°C
Apr, mean day; nights 23 °C (CHELSA)
Rain
1644mm/yr
10 wet months · peak Jul 313 mm (CHELSA)
Light
28–40DLI
mol/m²/day, winter to summer, open sky (CHELSA shortwave)
In short condensed by rule from the cultivation cards · not written by a person
Rain rule: a summer growing season, June to October in the northern hemisphere (June to October at the habitat, northern). Habitat rain 1644 mm a year, wettest July at 313 mm, driest January at 20 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere). Open sky over the habitat: 28 to 40 mol/m²/day. Cold floor 11.0 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).
Each sentence is one card's own one-line form, written by the same rule as the card (Its year, Rain, Light, Temperature); the note cannot say what a card does not. Months are given for the northern hemisphere (set your site in Settings to change this), and the habitat's own alongside. The cards · the figures.

Also known as Adhatoda subserrata Nees; Dianthera subserrata Blanco; Dicliptera rheedei Kostel.; Ecbolium gendarussa (Burm.fil.) Kuntze; Ecbolium gendarussa var. angustifolium Kuntze and 7 more.

Cultivation

Its year Rain rule: a summer growing season, June to October in the northern hemisphere (June to October at the habitat, northern).

This species’ habitat figures, and what two fixed rules read from them.

The rain rule reads a summer growing season: 70% of the year's rain (1232 mm of 1644 mm) falls in June to October, warmer than the year (wet-season mean 27.0 °C against a yearly mean of 25.8 °C). Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: December to April.

Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the envelope cells: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve gives a season to reverse. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain Habitat rain 1644 mm a year, wettest July at 313 mm, driest January at 20 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

1644 mm a year at the habitat, 1232 mm of it June to October. Wettest month July at 313 mm, driest January at 20 mm. Across the envelope cells the year's total runs 920 mm to 3423 mm (10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year) (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the envelope cells. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light Open sky over the habitat: 28 to 40 mol/m²/day.

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Open sky over the habitat: 28 to 40 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 23, the highest 90th-percentile month 46).

CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Warmth and air Cold floor 11.0 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell is 11.0 °C, the absolute minimum 3.6 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 40.5 °C. Monthly means: coldest night 16.9 °C in January (across the envelope cells 9.3 °C to 23.8 °C), warmest day 31.6 °C in April (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). Cold floor: 11.0 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell (NASA POWER).

NASA POWER daily minima and maxima 1981–2024 at the typical cell, lapse-corrected to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA. The cold floor is the figure named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 58 to 68% across the year (monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the envelope cells.

The figures the cards read from are in Climate below, and where they came from in Natural habitat.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat climate through the yearMean day from 27 °C in Dec to 32 °C in Apr; mean night from 17 °C in Jan to 25 °C in Jun. The cold quarter, Dec to Feb, is the three months around the coldest night. 1644 mm of rain a year, most in Jul. The bands show the 10th to 90th percentile across 364 habitat cells. Over 44 years at the typical cell the absolute minimum was 3.6 °C and the 99th-percentile day 40.5 °C; neither is dated to a month. Beneath: daily light integral and relative humidity through the year, each on its own scale.10°20°30°40°50°40.5° 99th-percentile day (undated)3.6° lowest night in 44 yrs (undated)°C · day and nightcold quarter0200400600800mm rainDLI 28–40RH 58–68 %JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain 10th–90th percentile across 364 habitat cells cold quarter: the three months around the coldest night extremes over 44 years at the typical cell, marked at the edge: undated DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C27 / 20–3028 / 23–3130 / 26–3432 / 27–3731 / 27–3930 / 27–3729 / 26–3329 / 26–3229 / 26–3229 / 26–3128 / 25–3027 / 21–29
Night °C17 / 9–2419 / 12–2421 / 15–2523 / 19–2625 / 21–2725 / 21–2725 / 21–2624 / 21–2624 / 21–2522 / 18–2519 / 14–2517 / 10–24
Rain mm20 / 3–27327 / 3–25239 / 7–24381 / 6–276160 / 21–301223 / 68–522313 / 107–690289 / 105–567241 / 118–387166 / 37–33364 / 8–33621 / 6–296
DLI30 / 24–3634 / 29–3939 / 32–4340 / 32–4636 / 30–4632 / 25–3828 / 24–3428 / 24–3530 / 26–3631 / 27–3529 / 25–3328 / 23–33
RH %58 / 51–6958 / 48–6959 / 47–6962 / 42–6964 / 45–6966 / 53–7268 / 62–7268 / 63–7267 / 61–7164 / 55–7062 / 51–7059 / 51–70

Each figure is the median across the 364 grid cells holding the 408 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. Extremes and elevation were read at the typical cell 1459:5618 (17.025, 100.925). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 3.6 °C, 1st-percentile night 11.0 °C, 99th-percentile day 40.5 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Envelope: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 364 distinct grid cells holding the 408 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1459:5618 (its coldest month's mean night nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 17.00_100.625, lapse-corrected -70 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 279 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across every in-range record's cell, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeAssam, Bangladesh, East Himalaya, India, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Philippines, Sumatera, New Guinea· introduced: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique, Comoros, Mauritius, Réunion, Rodrigues, Seychelles, China South-Central, Hainan, China Southeast, Taiwan, Nepal, Pakistan, West Himalaya, Andaman Is., Christmas I., Windward Is., Brazil Northeast, Brazil North
Kew's description“subshrub or shrub” · “seasonally dry tropical”· quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Map marker22.788, 87.903 · in the densest population, 93 records (23% of those in range)
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate envelope rest on all 409 georeferenced records inside the native range; the map shows only the 318 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 6 km away. 345 records outside the range (gardens, roadsides, misidentifications) ignored. 1 in-range record is placed to worse than 10 km and stays on the map but off the climate.
The map markerthe map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population inside the densest 4° block of the 409 in-range records; it decides nothing.

Photographs

Justicia gendarussaJusticia gendarussaJusticia gendarussaJusticia gendarussaJusticia gendarussaJusticia gendarussaJusticia gendarussaJusticia gendarussa

Photographs: (c) Yj, some rights reserved (CC BY) (5); no rights reserved · CC0; (c) 謝麗霦, some rights reserved (CC BY); (c) Rejoice Gassah, some rights reserved (CC BY).

Photographs: iNaturalist did not answer when this page was built; what is shown came from the sources that did.

Papers naming this species

Works whose title or abstract names Justicia gendarussa, most cited first, from OpenAlex (CC0). A mention, not a cultivation source: nothing on this page is drawn from them.

Corrosion inhibition by Justicia gendarussa plant extract in hydrochloric acid solution
Abhiram Satapathy, G. Gunasekaran, Samay-Sanat Sahoo, Kumar Amit (2009) · Corrosion Science
Anti-Arthritic Potential of the Plant Justicia Gendarussa Burm F
Jaijesh Paval, Srinivasan Keloth Kaitheri, Bhagath Kumar Potu, Sreejith Govindan (2009) · Clinics
Chemical Constituents and Bioactivities of Several Indonesian Plants Typically Used in Jamu
Retno Widyowati, Mangestuti Agil (2018) · Chemical and Pharmaceutical Bulletin
Potent Inhibitor of Drug-Resistant HIV-1 Strains Identified from the Medicinal Plant Justicia gendarussa
Hongjie Zhang, Emily Rumschlag-Booms, Yi-Fu Guan, Dong-Ying Wang (2017) · Journal of Natural Products
Isolation, identification and characterization of apigenin from Justicia gendarussa and its anti-inflammatory activity
K. Sree Kumar, Vidya Sabu, Ganapathy Sindhu, Arun A. Rauf (2018) · International Immunopharmacology
Anti-Inflammatory and Analgesic Activities of Ethanol Extract of Aerial Parts of Justicia gendarussa Burm.
C. Jothimaniv, Ravi Shekhar Kumar, N. Subramania (2010) · International Journal of Pharmacology
Antibacterial activity and photocatalytic dye degradation of copper oxide nanoparticles (CuONPs) using Justicia gendarussa
Seerangaraj Vasantharaj, Pooja Shivakumar, Selvam Sathiyavimal, P. Senthilkumar (2021) · Applied Nanoscience
Anti-HIV diphyllin glycosides from Justicia gendarussa
Hongjie Zhang, Emily Rumschlag-Booms, Yi-Fu Guan, Kang‐Lun Liu (2017) · Phytochemistry
Biosynthesis of TiO2 nanoparticles using Justicia gendarussa leaves for photocatalytic and toxicity studies
Subramanian Senthilkumar, Annamalai Rajendran (2018) · Research on Chemical Intermediates
Simple aromatic amines from justicia gendarussa. 13C NMR spectra of the bases and their analogues
Ajit K. Chakravarty, P.P. Ghosh Dastidar, Satyesh C. Pakrashi (1982) · Tetrahedron

Similar habitat climate the 6 species whose habitat climate is nearest this one's: mean day and night, month by month, and rain on a log scale, in calendar order, so a habitat with the same seasons six months out is far, not near. Nothing else counts: not range, not family.

Other Justicia 5 in the reference

History & registers

Where this page came from built 2026-09-20 · dossier v2 · node
gbif.species answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.synonyms answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.vernacular answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
wcvp.distribution answered
gbif.occurrences answeredGBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.3h4zam
climate answered
wikidata answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
wikipedia answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.taxon not asked
inat.photos.wild answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.photos.cultivated nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: filled 2026-09-20
commons nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
gbif.media answered
openalex answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped

Every upstream is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, or refused. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 87 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.