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

DRC: 34 taxa.

Insects associated with this genus:
Filodes costivitralis (Window pearl) Larval food plant
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Links to taxa:     View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

SpeciesBotanical divisionsContent
affinis S.Moore
alata Bojer ex SimsDescription, Image
angolensis S.Moore
battiscombei Turrill
bianoensis De Wild. & Ledoux
bogoroensis De Wild.
ciliata De Wild.
crispa BurkillDescription, Image
erecta (Benth.) T.AndersonIII
gossweileri S.Moore Description, Image
graminifolia De Wild. Description, Image
grandiflora (Roxb. ex Rottler) Roxb.Image
gregorii S. Moore
huillensis S. MooreDescription, Image
kirkiana T. Anderson
laborans Burkill
lancifolia T. AndersonDescription, Image
lathyroides Burkill
liebrechtsiana De Wild. & T.Durand
masisiensis De Wild.
microchlamys S.Moore
mildbraediana Lebrun & L.Touss.Image
natalensis Hook.Description, Image
oblongifolia Oliv.Description, Image
petersiana LindauDescription, Image
pynaertii De Wild. [End]Image
rogersii Turrill
schimbensis S. MooreDescription, Image
sessilis Lindau
stellarioides Burkill
subcordatifolia De Wild.
usambarica LindauDescription, Image
verdcourtii Vollesen
vogeliana Benth.III, VIImage

Other sources of information about Thunbergia:

Our websites:

Flora of Angola: Thunbergia
Flora of Botswana: Thunbergia
Flora of Burundi: Thunbergia
Flora of the DRC: cultivated Thunbergia
Flora of Kenya: 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 Tanzania: Thunbergia
Flora of Uganda: Thunbergia
Flora of Zambia: Thunbergia
Flora of Zimbabwe: 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: The DRC flora team, 2024-26

The DRC flora team (2026). Flora of the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Genus page: Thunbergia.
https://www.drcongoflora.com/speciesdata/genus.php?genus_id=1323, retrieved 17 September 2026

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