Family:
Acanthaceae Juss.
Genus:
Thunbergia Retz.

Thunbergia mysorensis (Wight) T.Anderson

Thunbergia mysorensis is a woody-stemmed, evergreen, climbing plant native to India. The genus name Thunbergia commemorates the Swedish physician and botanist, Carl Peter Thunberg (1743-1828), a protégé of Linnaeus. The species name 'mysorensis' refers to the city of Mysore in southern India. It is an attractive plant for winter and spring flowering in a conservatory or warm greenhouse.

[CPLC]

Bernal, R., Gradstein, S.R. & Celis, M. (eds.). 2015. Catálogo de plantas y líquenes de Colombia. Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá. http://catalogoplantasdecolombia.unal.edu.co

Distribution
Cultivada en Colombia; Alt. 1300 - 2100 m.; Andes.
Morphology General Habit
Trepadora

[FZ]

Flora Zambesiaca Acanthaceae (part 2) by Iain Darbyshire, Kaj Vollesen and Ensermu Kelbessa

Morphology General Habit
Vigorous herbaceous twiner to 6 m, often totally covering walls or roofs; cystoliths absent.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves ovate, to 15 cm long, 3-veined from base, irregularly dentate, apex acuminate to cuspidate, base truncate.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers in pendulous racemoid cymes to 50 cm long; bracts minute, each flower clasped by 2 large purplish brown ovate bracteoles to 2.5 cm long, partly fused along lower edge, no large urn-shaped glands.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx an undulate glabrous rim.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Corolla yellow outside, deeper yellow inside and lower lip maroon distally, tube to 3 cm long, campanulate, upper lip of 2 erect and lower of 3 deflexed lobes to 3 cm long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Stamens 4, held under upper lip, anthers bithecous, thecae densely pubescent, with 5 mm long basal spurs.
Distribution
Native of India. Occasionally cultivated in Africa.

[UPB]

The Useful Plants of Boyacá project

Morphology General Habit
Creeper.
Distribution
Cultivated in Colombia.
Ecology
Alt. 1300 - 2100 m.

[UPFC]
Distribution
Biogeografic region: Andean. Elevation range: 1300–2100 m a.s.l. Cultivated in Colombia. Colombian departments: Antioquia, Boyacá, Quindío.
Habit
Climbing.
Ecology
Habitat according IUCN Habitats Classification: forest and woodland, shrubland, artificial - terrestrial.

[KSP]

Kew Species Profiles

General Description
The clock vine can reach up to 10 metres in length with hanging stems of stunning yellow and reddish-brown flowers.

Thunbergia mysorensis is a woody-stemmed, evergreen, climbing plant native to India. The genus name Thunbergia commemorates the Swedish physician and botanist, Carl Peter Thunberg (1743-1828), a protégé of Linnaeus. The species name 'mysorensis' refers to the city of Mysore in southern India. It is an attractive plant for winter and spring flowering in a conservatory or warm greenhouse.

Species Profile
Geography and distribution

This species is native to southern India, from the Nilgiri Mountains (often referred to as the Nilgiri Hills) to Kanyakumari (Cape Comorin), at elevations reaching 900 m. It is commonly cultivated throughout India, and outdoors elsewhere in warm temperate and tropical areas.

Description

Overview: This is a vigorous, winter-flowering climber, with slender twining stems up to 10 m long.

Leaves:  It has glossy, green leaves, each around 15 cm long.

Flowers: The yellow and reddish-brown flowers hang in long racemes (an unbranched, elongated stem with stalked flowers), which can measure up to 90 cm in length. Each flower measures about 5 cm and has a gaping yellow throat and reflexed (turned back) dark red lobes.

In the wild, it is pollinated by sunbirds.

Uses

Thunbergia mysorensis is widely cultivated as an ornamental in the tropics, as well as in conservatories and greenhouses elsewhere. It has received an Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society.

Cultivation

As the clock vine comes from a tropical monsoon climate, it requires warm temperatures and ample water in summer, and a dry, cooler winter to flower freely.

This species at Kew

The clock vine can be seen in the Palm House and in the tropical section of the Princess of Wales Conservatory.

Pressed and dried, and alcohol-preserved specimens of Thunbergia mysorensis are held in Kew's Herbarium, where they are available to researchers from around the world, by appointment.

The details of some of these specimens, including images, can be seen online in the Herbarium Catalogue.

Distribution
India
Ecology
On trees in tropical montane forests.
Conservation
Not evaluated according to IUCN Red List criteria.
Hazards

None known.

[UNAL]

Bernal, R., G. Galeano, A. Rodríguez, H. Sarmiento y M. Gutiérrez. 2017. Nombres Comunes de las Plantas de Colombia. http://www.biovirtual.unal.edu.co/nombrescomunes/

Vernacular
cabaret, calavera, carnaval, cortina africana, cortina china, zapatico

[UPB]
Use Environmental Unspecified Environmental Uses
Environmental uses (State of the World's Plants 2016).

[UPFC]
Use Environmental
Environmental uses.

[KSP]
Use
Ornamental.

Native to:

India

Introduced into:

Leeward Is., Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Vietnam

English
Clock vine

Thunbergia mysorensis (Wight) T.Anderson appears in other Kew resources:

Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status Has image?
Jan 1, 1922 Wight, R. [s.n.], India K000357682 Unknown type material Yes
Jan 1, 1922 Wight, R. [s.n.], India K000357972 Unknown type material Yes
32275.000 No

First published in J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 9: 448 (1867)

Accepted by

  • Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1-1192.
  • Bosser, J. & al. (eds.) (2000). Flore des Mascareignes 127-135: 1. IRD Éditions, MSIRI, RBG-Kew, Paris.
  • Dassanayake (ed.) (1998). A Revised Handbook to the Flora of Ceylon 12: 1-390. Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. PVT. LTD., New Delhi, Calcutta.
  • Lê, T.C. (2005). Danh l?c các loài th?c v?t Vi?t Nam 3: 1-1248. Hà N?i : Nhà xu?t b?n Nông nghi?p.

Literature

Catálogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia

  • Bernal, R., Gradstein, S.R. & Celis, M. (eds.). 2015. Catálogo de plantas y líquenes de Colombia. Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá. http://catalogoplantasdecolombia.unal.edu.co

Kew Species Profiles

  • Brummitt, R. K. & Powell, C. E. (1996). Authors of Plant Names. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  • Herklots, G. (1976). Flowering Tropical Climbers. Dawson, Folkestone & Science History Publications, New York.
  • Noltie, H. J. (2007). The Life and Work of Robert Wight. Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh.
  • Phillips, R. & Rix, M. (1991). Conservatory and Indoor Plants. Vol. 2. Pan Books, London.
  • The Plant List (2010). Thunbergia mysorensis.

Useful Plants of Boyacá Project

  • GRIN National Genetic Resources Program http://www.ars-grin.gov in The State of the World’s Plants Report–2016. (2016). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew https://stateoftheworldsplants.org/2016/

Flora Zambesiaca

  • —Darbyshire et al. in F.T.E.A., Acanthaceae 2: 733 (2010).
  • —Maroyi in Kirkia 18: 194 (2006).

Kew Backbone Distributions

  • Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1-1192.
  • Bosser, J. & al. (eds.) (2000). Flore des Mascareignes 127-135: 1. IRD Éditions, MSIRI, RBG-Kew, Paris.
  • Dassanayake (ed.) (1998). A Revised Handbook to the Flora of Ceylon 12: 1-390. Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. PVT. LTD., New Delhi, Calcutta.
  • Lê, T.C. (2005). Danh l?c các loài th?c v?t Vi?t Nam 3: 1-1248. Hà N?i : Nhà xu?t b?n Nông nghi?p.

Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia

  • Bernal, R., Gradstein, S.R., & Celis, M. (eds.). (2020). Catálogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia. v1.1. Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Dataset/Checklist. https://doi.org/10.15472/7avdhn
  • Diazgranados et al. (2021). Catalogue of plants of Colombia. Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia project. In prep.
  • Diazgranados, M., Allkin, B., Black N., Cámara-Leret, R., Canteiro C., Carretero J., Eastwood R., Hargreaves S., Hudson A., Milliken W., Nesbitt, M., Ondo, I., Patmore, K., Pironon, S., Turner, R., Ulian, T. (2020). World Checklist of Useful Plant Species. Produced by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity.
  • GBIF.org (2021). GBIF species matching tool. https://www.gbif.org/tools/species-lookup
  • GRIN (2021). Germplasm Resources Information Network from the United States Department of Agriculture. https://www.ars-grin.gov/

  • Art and Illustrations in Digifolia

    Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew

  • Catálogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia

    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Colombian resources for Plants made Accessible

    ColPlantA 2021. Published on the Internet at http://colplanta.org
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Flora Zambesiaca

    Flora Zambesiaca
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    Copyright applied to individual images

  • Kew Species Profiles

    Kew Species Profiles
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Universidad Nacional de Colombia

    ColPlantA database
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia

    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Useful Plants of Boyacá Project

    ColPlantA database
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0