The following description is taken from Flora of China Editorial Committee (2015):
B. cristata is a perennial subshrub to 2 m tall. Stems terete, branched, covered with soft trichomes. Petiole (0-)0.3-1 cm;leaf blade elliptic to oblong to ovate, 2-10 × 1-4 cm, both surfaces villous especially along veins, secondary veins 4-7 on each side of midvein, base cuneate and decurrent onto petiole, apex acute to sometimes acuminate. Inflorescences axillary short and dense cymes, shortly pedunculate;bracts absent;bracteoles variable, linear to linear-lanceolate, 2.4-6.5 × 0.5-1.5 cm, 3-7-veined, base cuneate, margin usually spiny but sometimes bristly pilose and becoming spinescent with age, apex acuminate. Outer calyx lobes ovate to narrowly elliptic to lanceolate, 1.2-2.5 × 0.5-1.3 cm, pilose, reticulately veined, margin spiny, apex mucronate;inner calyx lobes linear to lanceolate, 6-12 mm, 1-veined, margin scarious. Corolla purplish blue, 4.5-6.5 cm, outside pilose;tube basally narrowly cylindric then gradually widened;lobes oblong-elliptic, approximately 1.5 cm, equal. Stamens 4, didynamous;filaments pilose especially toward base;staminode 1, filament sparsely pilose. Ovary oblong-ellipsoid, glabrous;style linear, ca. 2.5 cm, glabrous;stigma slightly inflated. Capsule 1.2-1.8 cm, glabrous, 4-seeded. Seeds subglobose to ovoid, 4-5 × 4 mm.
While flowers are generally purple-blue, a white-flowered cultivar ‘Alba’ is present among both cultivated and naturalized populations (Weeds of Australia, 2015).
Related invasive species
- Barleria cristata
Related Farm Practice
- Flora
B. cristata is a fast growing perennial plant often cultivated in gardens for its showy flowers. This species has repeatedly escaped from cultivation and naturalized in disturbed sites, abandoned gardens, riverbanks, and along roadsides (Daniel, 2001;Flora of China Editorial Committee, 2015). B. cristata has the potential to tolerate a remarkable range of habitats including human-disturbed sites, wastelands, and xeric vegetation (Meyer and Lavergne, 2004). Currently, it is listed as an invasive plant species in Australia, Fiji, Hawaii, French Polynesia, Mauritius, Réunion, and Puerto Rico (Smith, 1991;Meyer and Lavergne, 2004;PIER, 2015;Rojas-Sandoval and Acevedo-Rodriquez, 2015). In Australia, it is listed as an environmental weed (Weeds of Australia, 2015).