Declieuxia fruticosa

Declieuxia fruticosa is a small woody subshrub in the coffee family (Rubiaceae, tribe Coussareeae) and is the type species of the Neotropical genus Declieuxia. It is widely distributed in the cerrado, campos rupestres, and rocky savannas of central and eastern Brazil, extending into Bolivia, Paraguay, and the Guianas. Plants are wiry, much-branched from a woody base, reaching 30 to 80 centimeters in height, with slender, glabrous to finely pubescent, four-angled stems. The leaves are opposite or in whorls of three, narrowly elliptic to linear-lanceolate, 1 to 4 centimeters long, sessile or shortly petiolate, with revolute margins and small interpetiolar stipules typical of the family. Inflorescences are loose terminal or axillary cymes bearing few to many small tubular flowers; the corolla is funnel-shaped, pale blue, lilac, or sometimes whitish, with four spreading lobes and four stamens inserted in the throat. The fruit is a small dry, indehiscent didymous (two-lobed) capsule that splits into two one-seeded mericarps at maturity. The species is variable, with several recognised infraspecific taxa, and is often a conspicuous component of fire-maintained cerrado vegetation.