Fun Fact Friday - Green Shrimp Plant

Welcome back to another #FunFactFriday and our first one of 2025. After a break from posting digital content for the past few months, we are going to get back in the habit of posting routine content on our platforms.

This week I talk briefly about Green Shrimp Plant, Ruellia blechum. As far as I know at the time of this publication, this plant is still considered a Category II invasive plant in Florida. This means that it is predicted to be invasive with detrimental affects on native ecosystems and will require lots of resources to eradicate. This plant will be monitored and likely (in my opinion) upgraded to a Category I invasive plant in the near future.

We find Green Shrimp Plant begin invading our landscape by the fall each year. Once it arrives it seems to grow multiple inches at a time overnight. While that is obviously not the case, if you aren't out in the garden everyday you are definitely going to miss the introduction of this plant. By the time we see it, it is often too late to have controlled it well enough that seeds were not already created and dropped. Thus, the plant will likely to continue its unwanted existence on my property.

Like other unwanted weeds, the time from germination to being able to create and drop seeds is very fast. This is one of the characteristics that causes it to spread so quickly. It also can thrive in all types of conditions from full sun to full shade while not having any real soil requirements.

Are there any benefits to Green Shrimp Plant? Actually, yes there are. For one, it has been recorded to have many medicinal properties historically used by indigenous peoples of Central America to treat a variety of ailments including bleeding, parasites, and GI cramping. Most notably though, is the effect it has on lowering blood sugar. With the prevalence of diabetes in the modern world, and the increased interest in natural remedies.... there is currently research being poured into this plant among others for treating blood sugar levels.

Adult Malachite Butterfly - Photo by Maysam Yabandeh via https://pixnio.com

Another benefit of this plant is that it can host the gorgeous malachite butterfly, Siproeta stelenes. While this species is generally only found in South Florida, it has been slowly creeping northward towards Tampa.

I must wrap this up by stating clearly that the benefits of this plant do not justify the existence of an invasive plant in our yards. I just wanted to give some facts around this plant.

Hope you enjoyed this week's #FunFactFriday !

Comment below if you have any facts about Green Shrimp Plant or if you have any suggestions for what you'd like to see in future #FunFactFriday posts.

See you..............................................