Thunbergia erecta

• Botanical Name : Thunbergia erecta (Benth.) T.Anderson
• Synonyms : Meyenia erecta Benth.
• Common Name : Bush Clock Vine, King's Mantle, Mohan
• Plant Family : Acanthaceae
• Plant Form : Shrub
• Occurrence (Sectors) : 1, 4, 18, 28
• Occurrence (Special Areas) : Indroda Park

About Thunbergia erecta Plant :

• Habit : A small erect shrub with a square stem.
• Leaves : Opposite, ovate-elliptic, acute, with a blunt tooth on either side above the middle, wavy.
• Inflorescence : Axillary solitary or in pairs
• Flowers :
  • Blue purple, bracteate, bracts greenish-white, spathe-like.
  • Calyx very short, cup-like, with 15-teeth, hairy.
  • Corolla curved, funnel-shaped with 5 unequal lobes, yellowish-white at base, central portion cream shading into dense violet lobes and mouth.
  • Stamens 4, didynamous, anthers hairy.
  • Ovary 2-celled, on a disk, style long, stigma bilobed.
• Fruit : Capsule 4-seeded.
• Flowering and Fruiting Time : August - January
• Significance : Planted in the gardens and often cut into beautiful shapes and designs for the topiarist's art.