Justicia pectoralis is an herb in the Acanthus family (Acanthaceae). This water-willow is widely known as tilo in Latin America and in Cuba. In Haiti it is called chapantye and zeb chapantyè on Dominica and Martinique. Other folk names are freshcut, chambá carpintero ("carpenter"), té criollo ("Criollo tea"), curia, death-angel, masha-harivari, or "piri piri kiri kos kesh". This species was described by Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin in 1760, who provided additional data in 1763. A well-marked variety, var. stenophylla, was described by Emery Clarence Leonard in 1958.