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Thunbergia alata

Bojer ex Sims (1825)

This name is accepted

Kingdom: Viridiplantae Phylum: Magnoliophyta Class/Clade: Eudicot-Asterids Order: Lamiales Family: Acanthaceae Genus: Thunbergia

black-eyed susan vine

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Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Vines.

Stems:

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves simple. Opposite and decussate (pairs of leaves alternating 90 degrees between nodes). Blades deltate to deltate-hastate, 4.5-7.5 cm long, 1.8-3.5 cm wide. Upper surfaces sparsely strigose; lower surfaces hirsute. Margins undulate. Petioles winged, 2–6.5 cm long. Stipules absent.

Flowers: Flowers solitary on long peduncles. Flowers bisexual (perfect). Each subtended by 2 ovate or deltate bracts 15–20 mm long. Calyx lobes ca. 12. Corolla 5-lobed, showy, orange or yellow with a dark purple throat, 1.5–2 cm long. Stamens 4, in pairs, inserted on the corolla alternate with the lobes, sometimes 1 or more reduced to staminodes; anthers dithecal, opening by longitudinal slits. Ovary superior, 2-carpellate; ovule placentation axile; style filiform, simple.

Fruit: Capsules with two cells; usually dehiscing explosively; subglobose; with a conspicuous sterile beak 1–2 cm long. Seeds not on a modified funiculus that ejects the seeds from the capsule.

Ploidy: 2n = 18; 32

Habitat: Naturalized in tropical regions.

Elevation Range:

Historical Distribution

Images

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Uses and Culture

USES

Natural History

Statewide Status

Naturalized

Island Status

Kaua'i Naturalized
O'ahu Potentially naturalizing
Molokai Naturalized
Lana'i Naturalized
Maui Naturalized
Hawai'i Naturalized

Dispersal Agents


Vegetative Reproduction

Pollinators

Notes

  • Description digitized by Pumehana Imada
  • In Hawai‘i cultivated.

Bibliography

Name Published In: Bot. Mag. 52: t. 2591 (1825)

Other References

Wagner et al. 1990:175 (K, Mo, EM, H); Oppenheimer 2003:4 (WM); Staples & Herbst 2005:93 (KEY, DESCR); Starr et al. 2010:61 (L); St.John 12655 BISH (Mo†, 1932)

Wagner, W. L., Herbst, D. R., & Sohmer, S. H. (1999). Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawai'i, Vols. 1 and 2 (No. Edn 2). University of Hawai'i and Bishop Museum Press.

Occurrences

SNo. Scientific Name Locality Habitat Basis of Record Description Recorded By Record Number Island Source Date
1 Thunbergia alata Mapulehu On roadside. Preserved_Specimen Weed, trailing and climbing vine; flowers orange-yellow. St.John, H. 12655 Molokai BISH 1932-12-27
2 Thunbergia alata Honolulu, Makiki Spontaneous around edges of garden. Preserved_Specimen Vine; flowers cream-white with purple-black center. Fosberg, F.R. 27076 Oahu BISH 1946-09-22
3 Thunbergia alata Lanai City, Queens St In abandoned scrub area on mauka side of rd. Growing with Olea uropaea subsp cuspidata, Eugenia uniflora, and Tithonia diversifolia Preserved_Specimen Starr, F. 7040302 Lanai BISH 2007-04-03
4 Thunbergia alata East Maui, Kula, Cross Road near driveway of resident Cultivated. Preserved_Specimen White flowered form. Starr, F. 980403114 Maui BISH 1998-04-03
5 Thunbergia alata Waimea Arboretum & Botanical Garden Climbing on shrubs in full sun. Preserved_Specimen Vine; corolla orange within and creamy orange without, except for blackish purple within tube and on proximal portion of outer surface. Flowers odorless (morning). Lau, J. 2475 Oahu BISH 1986-06-02
6 Thunbergia alata Honolulu Cultivated. Preserved_Specimen Mann, H. Oahu BISH 1864-01-01
7 Thunbergia alata Lihue District. Hwy 50 just W of Puhi Park In pasture along road. Preserved_Specimen Vine; leaves dark, dull green above, pale green below. Corolla lobes orange, throat white. Flynn, T.W. 2641 Kauai BISH 1987-12-10
8 Thunbergia alata East Maui, Olinda, bulch E of Piiholo Road Single plant growing wild in gulch bottom. Preserved_Specimen Hobdy, R.W. 2551 Maui BISH 1986-03-26
9 Thunbergia alata W Maui, Lahaina District, Napili, near Bay Golf Course In unnamed gulch w. Thunbergia fragrans, Coccinia grandis, Ipomoea ochracea, Passiflora edulis. Preserved_Specimen Flowers orange w. dark center. Oppenheimer, H.L. 120002 Maui BISH 2000-12-04
10 Thunbergia alata Lawai, Lauoho Road In Leucaena along roadside. Preserved_Specimen Vine; corolla lobes dull orange, throat dark brown. Flynn, T.W. 1045 Kauai BISH 1985-03-30
11 Thunbergia alata Lower slope Pacific Hts Preserved_Specimen Forbes, C.N. 1028 Oahu BISH 1909-01-16
12 Thunbergia alata Luakaha Preserved_Specimen Vine; flowers orange to cream with or without dark center. Neal, M.C. Oahu BISH 1941-06-12
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