1 minute read
Black-eyed Susan
Thunbergia alata
Black-eyed Susan
DESCRIPTION
Long-lived perennial twining vine with paired ovate leaves 2-8cm long by 10– 45mm wide, base hastate to sagittate, margins entire or toothed, both surfaces covered with short stiff hairs. Petioles 15–40mm long.
FLOWERS AND FRUIT
Solitary axillary orange or yellow flowers with a black centre on peduncles 30–95mm long; bracteoles 12–15mm long, fused along one margin; calyx 12-lobed; tube 15–25mm long. Hairy fruit capsule with a seed-bearing base 5–7mm long and ‘beak’ 9–15mm long; seeds 4mm wide.
HABITAT AND RANGE
Riparian corridors, bushland, forest margins, roadsides, disturbed sites and waste areas in tropical, sub-tropical and warmer temperate regions along the coast from Casula, New South Wales, north to Queensland. A native of tropical and southern Africa.
