Thunbergia erecta
Content
Description
Erect to arching shrub, 1.5-3 m tall. Stem subquadrate to quadrate-alate to ± flattened, internodes sparsely pubescent. Petiole 2-6 mm long, glabrous, often distally alate; blade ovate-elliptic to elliptic, 2-5.5 x 0.5-3 cm, acuminate at apex, acute to attenuate at base, pubescent on both surfaces, margin entire or coarsely and shallowly sinuate-dentate; venation pinnate. Inflorescence of solitary dichasia in leaf axils; peduncle 20-23 mm long, sparsely pubescent; bracteoles caducous, ovate, 13-20 x 8-13 mm, truncate at base, rounded to acute at apex, glabrous or nearly so. Calyx 3-10 mm long, 10-12- lobed, lobes lance-subulate to subulate, unequal, 1-4 mm long, pubescent with glandular trichomes; corolla royal purple to lavender, with throat white or yellow within, 45-80 mm long, externally sparsely pubescent, limb regular, 37-55 mm in diam., lobes broadly obovate, 14-19 x 15-25 mm, rounded to truncate at apex; stamens didynamous, 11-15 mm long, thecae 3-3.5 mm long, unequal in size, subparallel, subequally inserted, with a cluster of ca. 20stiff, straight, 0.2-0.4 mm long spines at base, puberulous; style 24-34 mm long, glabrous, stigma 2-lobed, lobes subfunnelform, superposed, 2.5-3 mm long. Capsule 25-29 mm long, glabrous, body subglobose, 11-12 mm in diam., beak 15-17 mm long; seeds apparently 4, 5-6.5 mm in diam., with a shallow “eye” 3-4 mm in diam. on flat side, surface dimpled, lacking trichomes.