Greek hemi — half, graphos— written.
Mostly low-growing groundcover annual and perennial herbs and subshrubs. Leaves with margins usually toothed or scalloped. Flower clusters in terminal, few-flowered spikes. Flowers narrowly tubular and with conspicuous bracts, appearing at irregular intervals. Stamens 4, in unequal pairs and not protruding from the flower. Fruit a capsule.
Cultivated as indoor plants for their ornamental foliage, often low-growing and useful for hanging baskets.
Softwood cuttings.
Leaves often purplish, at least below; flowers 5-lobed; stamens 4, in unequal pairs, not protruding from the flower.
About 90 species from tropical Asia.
Source: (2002). Acanthaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 4. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 3. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.