- Source: Ecbolium ligustrinum
Ecbolium ligustrinum is also known as green ice crossandra, green shrimp plant, and turquoise crossandra. Its flowers may be greenish blue in colour. It's commonly seen among the pathways
The identifying characters are bilabiate corolla , didynamous and epipetalous stamen , typical spike inflorescence. It's coming under the family Acanthaceae( acanthus family ), closely related to the mint family ( Lamiaceae aka Labiatae )
Affinities : There has been a belief that Acanthaceae is evolved from the family Scrophulariaceae and is closely related to the family Lamiaceae but it differs from Lamiaceae by the following characteristics : Absence of aromatic smell , tetralocular ovary , quadrangular stem and verticillaster inflorescence.
