Angolan Water Willow (Justicia cubangensis & Justicia eriniae: Two new species of Water Willow from south-central Angola.)

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Water Willows, Justicia, are perennial herbs and shrubs found in tropical, sub-tropical, and warm temperate regions of the Americas, Africa and India. They typically have heavily veined leaves and white, cream, yellow, orange, or pink tubular flowers. The second new species described is named Justicia eriniae, in honour of Erin Tripp of the Museum of Natural History at the University of Colorado, who collected the first specimen of this species. This is a brittle-stemmed herb reaching 50-75 cm in height, which has blade-shaped leaves up to 65 mm in length. and produces tubular flowers 18-18.5 mm in length on a flower spike 5.5-8.0 cm high. A single patch of these plants, less than 10 in number, was found growing by a road in Namibe Province, southwest Angola, in an area of lowland thornscrub, though it is unclear if this means the species is rare, since the area is poorly explored.