Thunbergia fragrans Roxb.

  • Authority

    Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.

  • Family

    Acanthaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Thunbergia fragrans Roxb.

  • Description

    Species Description - Herbaceous twiner, 2-3 m long; stems slender, cylindrical, striate, covered with minute appressed hairs. Leaf blades 6-11 x 1.8-6 cm, ovate or lanceolate, chartaceous, sparsely covered with appressed hairs, without cystoliths, upper surface slightly scabrous, the apex acute, the base truncate or nearly rounded, the margins entire and ciliate. Flowers solitary at leaf axil, not fragrant. Bracts green, ovate, 1.6-2 cm long. Calyx with numerous lanceolate sepals, 5 mm long; corolla white, 2.5-4 cm long, the tube narrowing at the base, yellow within. Capsule 1-2.5 cm long. Seeds ca. 5 mm diam., globose, brown, 2-4 per capsule.

  • Discussion

    Thunbergia volubilis Pers., Syn. PL 2: 179. 1806.

  • Distribution

    Naturalized, found along roadsides. Annaberg (A1928), Bethany (B253), Susannaberg (A4665). Also on St. Croix, St. Thomas, and Tortola; native to India and Sri Lanka but naturalized throughout the tropics.

    Sri Lanka India Asia| Tortola Virgin Islands South America| Saint Thomas Jamaica South America| Saint Croix Virgin Islands of the United States South America|