7914.000 Thunbergia Retz.

Description of the genus

Herbs, erect, creeping or climbing. Leaves opposite, sometimes cordate or hastate at base. Flowers axillary. Bracts 2, large, elliptic or ovate, enveloping the small calyx. Calyx usually of 10-18 linear teeth, rarely a small saucer-shaped body. Stamens 4, didynamous, 2-thecous; anthers opening by longitudinal slits. Retinacula 0. Ovary 2-locular, with 2 ovules in each loculus. Fruit a spherical beaked capsule. Distinguished by the large bracts, the calyx with its numerous lobes, the method of anther dehiscence and the beaked fruit.

Derivation of name: Named after Carl Peter Thunberg (1743-1828)

Comment: See Pseudocalyx for the differences with that genus.

Worldwide: 90 species in the Old World tropics

Zimbabwe: 13 taxa.

Insects associated with this genus:
Filodes costivitralis (Window pearl) Larval food plant
Thunbergia alata

Links to taxa:     View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

SpeciesFZ divisionsContent
alata Bojer ex SimsN,C,E,SDescription, Image
annua NeesWDescription
crispa BurkillN,W,C,E,SDescription, Image
dregeana NeesW,C,E,SDescription, Image
huillensis S. MooreN,W,C,EDescription, Image
natalensis Hook.EDescription, Image
neglecta Sond.C
oblongifolia Oliv.N,C,EDescription, Image
petersiana Lindau[DD]EDescription, Image
reticulata A. Rich.[DD]N,WDescription, Image
schimbensis S. MooreEDescription, Image
subalata Lindau[DD]C
usambarica LindauEDescription, Image

Key to Species

Display key

Other sources of information about Thunbergia:

Our websites:

Flora of Botswana: Thunbergia
Flora of Burundi: Thunbergia
Flora of the DRC: Thunbergia
Flora of Malawi: Thunbergia
Flora of Malawi: cultivated Thunbergia
Flora of Mozambique: Thunbergia
Flora of Rwanda: Thunbergia
Flora of Rwanda: cultivated Thunbergia
Flora of Zambia: Thunbergia
Flora of Zimbabwe: cultivated Thunbergia

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Thunbergia
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Thunbergia
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Thunbergia
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Thunbergia
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Thunbergia
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Thunbergia
JSTOR Plant Science: Thunbergia
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Thunbergia
Plants of the World Online: Thunbergia
Tropicos: Thunbergia
Wikipedia: Thunbergia

Copyright: Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Meg Coates Palgrave, 2002-24

Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. (2024). Flora of Zimbabwe: Genus page: Thunbergia.
https://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/genus.php?genus_id=1323, retrieved 14 December 2024

Site software last modified: 25 February 2024 10:19am (GMT +2)
Terms of use