Changes

*''Asystasia coromandeliana'' Nees (1832).

*Tropical primrose, Chinese violet (En). *Herbe le rail, mange-tout, herbe pistache, pistache marron (Fr). *Asistasía branca (Po). *Fuchwe, mtikini, kichwamangwo (Sw).

*Perennial herb, with usually ascending, branched, quadrangular stem up to 2 m long, often rooting at the lower nodes. *Leaves opposite, simple; stipules absent; petiole 0.5–6 cm long; blade ovate to lanceolate, 3–8(–13) cm × 1.5–4.5(–7) cm, base cuneate to cordate, apex acuminate or acute, margin entire, glabrous to sparsely pubescent, with 4–6 lateral veins at each side of the midrib, provided with cystoliths. *Inflorescence a terminal raceme up to 25 cm long, with flowers directed to one side. *Flowers bisexual, slightly zygomorphic, 5-merous; pedicel up to 3 mm long; calyx with lanceolate lobes 4–10 mm long; corolla funnel-shaped, up to about 2.5(–4) cm long, usually white with purplish spots inside lower lobe, with rounded lobes c. 1 cm wide, lower lobe slightly longer; stamens 4, 2 shorter and 2 longer; ovary superior, densely pubescent, 2-celled, style up to 1.5(–2) cm long, stigma with 2 short lobes. *Fruit a club-shaped capsule 2–3 cm long, pubescent and glandular, usually 4-seeded. *Seeds ovoid, flattened, 4–5 mm long, grey to brown, with crenate margins, tuberculate, supported by retinacula.

''Asystasia'' comprises about 50 species, and is distributed in the tropics of the Old World, with about 30 species in tropical Africa. Two subspecies can be distinguished within ''Asystasia gangetica''. *Subsp. ''micrantha'' (Nees) Ensermu, with corolla normally less than 2.5 cm long and style less than 1.5 cm long, is diploid (2''n'' = 26) and distributed in tropical Africa, the Indian Ocean islands and Arabia. *Subsp. ''gangetica'', with corolla normally more than 2.5 cm long and style more than 1.5 cm long, is tetraploid (2''n'' = 52) and distributed in India, Sri Lanka, South-East Asia and islands of the Pacific Ocean, and introduced in tropical America. Both subspecies can be weedy, but subsp. ''micrantha'' is more serious as it is more vigorous and tends to become decumbent, producing a dense carpet of rooting stems and foliage.

* O.A. Adetula , National Horticultural Research Institute (NIHORT), P.M.B. 5432, Idi-Ishin, Jericho, Ibadan, Nigeria

Adetula, O.A., 2004. '''Asystasia gangetica''' (L.) T.Anderson. [Internet] Record from PROTA4U. Grubben, G.J.H. & Denton, O.A. (Editors). PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa / Ressources végétales de l’Afrique tropicale), Wageningen, Netherlands. <http://www.prota4u.org/search.asp>.