Mayan™ Purple Mexican Petunia

Ruellia 'R10-102'

Ruellia ‘Mayan Purple’ in May 2016 on 40% ET0, blooming quickly after emergence. Photo: SK Reid.
Ruellia ‘Mayan Purple’ in May 2016 on 40% ET0, blooming quickly after emergence. Photo: SK Reid.

Summary

Ruellia Mayan Purple is part of the Mayan™ series of Mexican petunia, Ruellia simplex, bred at the University of Florida at Gainesville with the goal of producing sterile cultivars that would not pose a threat of invasiveness by seed dispersal, and would be smaller overall than the species. Mayan Purple was winter deciduous, had the habit of spreading by underground runners, and tended to leave a bare middle while creating a non-uniform ring of stems further out. It showed no significant differences between treatments in its ultimate height and width of 30.5” (77.7cm) and 59” (149.7cm) respectively.  Overall appearance was best at 40% of ETo and was still very good at 20% of ETo. Flowering was also significantly better on the 40% treatment than on the higher levels of irrigation (Table 14). This cultivar showed a definite preference for low water, and would have scored higher overall were it not for its unfortunate growth habit of sending up stems too far from the original plant to create a solid, unified plant appearance.

Ruellia ‘Mayan Purple’ on the preferred treatment of 40% ET0 in Oct. 2016. Photo: SK Reid.
Ruellia ‘Mayan Purple’ on the preferred treatment of 40% ET0 in Oct. 2016. Photo: SK Reid.

Basic Info

Submitted by: University of Florida
Trial Exposure: Sun
Year evaluated: 2016
Height & Width
(after 2 years):
30.5" x 59" - UC Davis
Reported Height & Width
(at maturity):
36-48" x 24-36"
WUCOLS plant type: P
Water Needs & WUCOLS Region:
Low - Region 2 
Mean Overall 
Appearance rating:
(1-5 Scale, 5 is highest)
3.9 - UC Davis 
Flowering Months
May-October - UC Davis

Growth and Quality Data

Click Here for Complete Data Set

Shown from above this ‘Mayan Purple’ displays the common spreading habit. Photo: SK Reid.
Shown from above this ‘Mayan Purple’ displays the common spreading habit. Photo: SK Reid.

Source URL: https://ucanr.edu/site/uc-landscape-plant-irrigation-trialstm/mayantm-purple-mexican-petunia