Ruttya Fruticosa

Scientific Name: Ruttya Fruticosa

Common Name: jammy mouth

Family: Acanthaceae

Names in other languages: rabbit ears”, “bunny ears”, “hummingbird plant”, “monkey face”, “orange bird”, “orange dragon” (English); “Hasenhor”, “Kolibri-Pflanze” (German); “planta coelhinho” (Portuguese)

General Information 

Ruttya fruticosa, also known as j is a shrub which is native to Africa. It can be found in South Somalia to Tanzania and in the woodlands of Dhofar, Oman. The name Ruttya was named in honour of Dr John Rutty and fruticosa means shrubby and refers to the habit of the plant.

Features of Bauhinia Tomentosa that make it identifiable:  

• The Bark is grayish/silverish/brown and is relatively smooth with maybe a few bumps here and there 

• The Leaves are simple and broad. 

• The flowers are tubular, orange and have black at the center 

• The fruit is an ellipsoid capsule of brown colour, containing a maximum of four seeds

Uses (non medicinal) 

• ornamental and landscaping

• The flowers are pulled off and sucked to extract the sweet nectar

• The twigs were used to make kohl sticks and wedge-shaped dividers, which women used to part and plait hair.

Medicinal Uses:  

• no recorded medicinal uses