Greek hypo — under, estia — house, referring to the sepals that are concealed by the bracts.
Perennial herbs and evergreen shrubs and subshrubs. Leaves opposite, entire or toothed. Flowers solitary or clustered in the upper axils and branch tips. Sepal lobes 5. Flower 2-lipped, the upper lip 3-lobed and the lower lip entire. Corolla tube narrow and longer than the sepals. Stamens 2, attached in the throat. Ovary with 2 chambers, each containing 2 ovules. Fruit a capsule.
Grown mostly as an unusual, speckle-leaf indoor plant.
Softwood cuttings, or occasionally from seed.
Leaves freckled, usually with pink spots; stamens 2, attached at the flower throat.
About 40 species from SE Asia, Madagascar and S Africa.
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.