Wild petunia is a small herbaceous perennial with purple trumpet-shaped flowers, blooming from spring to fall. The 2″ flowers bloom in loose panicles and last for a single day, opening at dawn and dropping by afternoon. The seeds capsules explode to propel the seeds a short distance from the parent plant.
Wild petunia readily reseeds and can withstand mowing, so it is often found growing mixed with lawn grasses. It can be evergreen depending on conditions, but will go dormant after a strong freeze. It’s a great selection for a rain garden or native woodland. It’s a larval host plant for buckeyes and other butterflies, and the flowers attract pollinators of all kinds.
There is no relation to the potted petunias used as bedding plants; though the flowers are similar, wild petunia is more closely related to bear’s breeches. Other Ruellia species can be found around San Antonio; some grow tall, while others have white flowers. The notoriously invasive Mexican petunia (Ruellia simplex) is related, but much more aggressive; pay attention to the leaf shape.
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