Justicia brandegeeana, the Mexican shrimp plant, shrimp plant or false hop, is an evergreen shrub in the genus Justicia of the acanthus family Acanthaceae, native to Mexico, and also naturalized in Florida. It grows to 1 m tall (rarely more) with spindly limbs. The leaves are oval, green, 3–7.5 cm long. The flowers are white, extending from red bracts which look somewhat like shrimps, hence the common name "shrimp flower". The specific epithet is named for the American botanist Townshend Stith Brandegee (1843–1925). It is sometimes misspelled "brandegeana".
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Justicia brandegeeana has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
DNA specimens5
Marker genes4
GenBank sequences5
eDNA detections4
Countries1
The DNA barcodea real sequence read deposited for this species
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
★matK1★rbcL1★rbcLa★ITS3
plant barcodefungal barcode
06Genome at a glanceCCDB
The complete instruction manualJusticia brandegeeana carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy89% within 1 km
≤100 m 556≤1 km 172≤10 km 47>10 km 43
818 georeferenced · 158 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor976
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Coordinate accuracy72% within 1 km
≤100 m 79≤1 km 34≤10 km 32>10 km 12
157 georeferenced · 210 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence367
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Coordinate accuracy
no georeferenced coordinates · 1 records without
Open the mapnot free-living1
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
10Collections & institutions
Holding institutions60 of 110 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
Institution
Specimens
Tampa, US
27
Saint Louis, US
26
Durango, MX
21
Mexico City, MX
17
Austin, US
15
Mexico City, MX
13
Juriquilla, MX
9
Denver, US
7
San Jose State University, Museum of Birds and Mammalslocation not on record
7
Universidad de Caldas (UCaldas)location not on record
7
Kew, GB
6
Paris, FR
6
Universidad Industrial de Santander (UIS)location not on record
6
Long Beach, US
6
University of Stellenboschlocation not on record
6
Antiguo Cuscatlán, SV
5
Henry Brockhouse Collectionlocation not on record
5
BAYLUlocation not on record
5
Universidad de Antioquia (UdeA)location not on record
5
Brisbane, AU
5
Tsukuba, JP
5
Ann Arbor, US
5
Severin-McDaniel Insect Collectionlocation not on record
4
Miami, US
4
Christchurch, NZ
4
Porto Alegre, BR
4
UNESP-FCAlocation not on record
4
Chapingo, MX
3
Chongqing Museumlocation not on record
3
Honolulu, US
3
Canberra, AU
3
Austin, US
3
Durban, ZA
3
San Luis Obispo, US
3
Mount Annan, AU
3
Museo Nacional de Costa Rica (MNCR)location not on record
3
ASUlocation not on record
3
Altos de Pipe, VE
3
Flagstaff, US
2
Auckland, NZ
2
UNESP-RClocation not on record
2
UFRPElocation not on record
2
INMAlocation not on record
2
Florida Museum of Natural History- Zoology, Paleontology & Paleobotanylocation not on record
2
BISHlocation not on record
2
Bronx, US
2
UNICAMPlocation not on record
2
Nishihara, JP
2
FUNEDlocation not on record
2
Santa Barbara, US
2
South Kensington, GB
2
Istituto Agrario Castelnuovolocation not on record
2
Uppsala, SE
2
Santa Teresa, BR
2
Instituto Amazónico de Investigaciones Científicas - SINCHIlocation not on record
2
Beijing, CN
2
Jataí / Setor Industrial, BR
2
Maringá, BR
2
JBRJlocation not on record
2
Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (PUJ)location not on record
2
Jena Microbial Resource Collectionlocation not on record
1
Chaguaramas, TT
1
CEPLAClocation not on record
1
Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas, Universidad Veracruzana, Región Xalapalocation not on record
1
Canadian Department of Agriculturelocation not on record
1
Claremont, US
1
Loja, EC
1
Phoenix, US
1
San Francisco de Campeche, MX
1
Corporación Autónoma Regional Para la Defensa de la Meseta de Bucaramanga (CDMB)location not on record
1
Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paranálocation not on record
1
Universidad del Quindío (UniQuindío)location not on record
1
North Carolina Zoological Parklocation not on record
1
DOI/NPS, Little Rock Central High School National Historic Sitelocation not on record
1
Alicante, ES
1
UEMlocation not on record
1
CICYTEXlocation not on record
1
Universidad del Pais Vasco (UPV/EHU)location not on record
1
Berlin, DE
1
Alexandria Universitylocation not on record
1
Chicago, US
1
IPA/SPlocation not on record
1
Museo Entomologico de Leonlocation not on record
1
CASlocation not on record
1
Logan, US
1
Station d'Ecologie de Lamtolocation not on record
1
León, NI
1
Herbario Selva Central Oxapampa - estación biológica del Jardín Botánico de Missourilocation not on record
1
Mérida, MX
1
Pamplona, ES
1
Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Gardenlocation not on record
1
Davis, US
1
Córdoba, AR
1
MAlocation not on record
1
Santa Maria, BR
1
Barcelona, ES
1
EL PASO, US
1
Bloomington, US
1
HUENFlocation not on record
1
UFRRJlocation not on record
1
Gump Stationlocation not on record
1
CAS, F, MEXU-image, USlocation not on record
1
Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipaslocation not on record
1
Northridge, US
1
Smithfield, AU
1
National Biodiversity Institute, Costa Ricalocation not on record
1
GAlocation not on record
1
Dekalb, US
1
Stephenville, US
1
Ilhéus, BR
1
110 institutions · 361 of 367 vouchered records shown · 6 without an institution code
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
09Environmental DNA4 detections
Where the DNA of Justicia brandegeeana was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Detections DNA found4
Studies independent surveys1
Countries1
Signal confidence: weakweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
Where its DNA was found
0 of 4 detections have coordinates
Open the map1 country0
How strong is each trace?
DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.
Modelled climatemodelled
−15°Ctemperature across detection sites+40°C
Temperature median16.5 °C 16.5–16.5
Seasonal swing summer↔winter13.8 °C
Max temp (day)22.7 °C
Min temp (night)10.0 °C
Precipitation7.80 mm/mo
Air humidity54.6 %
Moisture balance-108 mm/mo
Vapour deficit852 Pa
Wind speed3.50 m/s
Cloud cover28.5 %
CHELSA 1981–2010, ~9 km grid, at location & month of 1 detection point · median with p10–p90 · reflects where sampling happened, not only the true niche
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation8 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility1 348 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI4 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics5 specimens↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinesequences↗
GRIN TaxonomyUSDA-ARSdistribution & uses↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
CCDBChromosome Counts DB · Tel Aviv U.genome & karyotype↗
PloiDBPloidy Databasegenome & karyotype