Yucatan Petunia
Ruellia yucatana
Found in grasslands, on caliche, chaparral, thicket edges; eastwards in disturbed areas. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native status: sources disagree. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 18%
- Light
- Up to 6 hours of direct sun
No photograph yet. Looking for an old drawing…
At a glance
Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Soil · Life cycle · Leaves · Bloom
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 2 Alabama counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement.


Habitats
Prairies and grasslands; forest edges and thickets; roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there. All habitats
Who uses this plant?
4CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL
Genus host records with ranges including AL · Ruellia
- Junonia coeniaCommon Buckeye
- Anthanassa texanaTexan Crescent
- Tripudia rectangulaWild Petunia Seed Moth, Rectangular Tripudia
- Hileithia aplicalis
Plant details
- Family
- Acanthaceae
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Conservation status
| Alabama rank | Not available |
|---|---|
| Global rank | Not available |
| AL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Alabama Plant Atlas
- FloraQuest: South Central (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications

