Black-eyed Susan vine (Thunbergia alata)

Black-eyed Susan vine (Thunbergia alata) is a species of plant in the Acanthaceae, perennial vines, stems wrapped around other plants up to 5 meters long in warmer zones, heart or arrow-shaped leaves.

T. alata has cylindrical stems with linear angles, branched, green or reddish, full of white hairs 1-2 mm long, creeping on the ground or wrapped around other plants for vertical climbing.



Leaves heart or arrow-shaped, 3-8 cm long, 3 cm wide, wavy edges, both surfaces hairy. The leaf blades sit on the stalk, 6 cm long and attach at a distance of 4-13 cm on the axis of the stem and are 1 cm thick.

Star flowers, mostly yellow to orange, 5 petals and 8 cm long inflorescence axis. The crown tube is 2 cm long in the middle and is black-purple in color. The single flower has 2 bracts, triangular to oblong in shape, hairs that taper outward, 18-20 mm long and 9-10 mm wide.

Petals serrated, 2 mm long, 15-17 lobe-shaped awl. The crown tube is 4 cm long and shows 5 large crown lobes measuring 2 cm in diameter with a capillary bud on the outside. The fruit has a length of 16-18 mm, smooth hair, 7 mm in diameter. Four seeds and 3.5 mm. Seeds germinate easily in humus-rich soil with little sand.

TAXON

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Lamiales
Family: Acanthaceae
Subfamily: Thunbergioideae
Tribe: Thunbergieae
Genus: Thunbergia Retz. in Physiogr. Sälsk. Handl. 1: 163 (1780)
Species: Thunbergia alata Bojer ex Sims in Bot. Mag. 52: t. 2591 (1825)

HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS

Endomelas alata (Bojer ex Sims) Raf. in Fl. Tellur. 4: 67 (1838)

HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS

Thunbergia alata var. alba Paxton in Paxton's Mag. Bot. 3: 28 (1837)
Thunbergia alata var. albiflora Hook. in Bot. Mag. 63: t. 3512 (1836)
Thunbergia alata var. marginata Hohen. in Flora 32: 558 (1849)
Thunbergia alata var. minor S.Moore in J. Bot. 39: 300 (1901)
Thunbergia alata var. retinervia Burkill in D.Oliver & auct. suc. (eds.), Fl. Trop. Afr. 5: 17 (1899)
Thunbergia alata var. velutina Bremek. in Verh. Kon. Ned. Akad. Wetensch., Afd. Natuurk., Sect. 2. 45(2): 8 (1948)
Thunbergia alata var. vixalata Burkill (1899)
Thunbergia albiflora Gordon in Gard. Chron. 1845: 169 (1845)
Thunbergia aurantiaca Paxton in Paxton's Mag. Bot. 6: 269 (1839)
Thunbergia backeri E.Vilm. in Fl. Pleine Terre, ed. 2: 919 (1866)
Thunbergia bakeri Bosse in Vollst. Handb. Bl.-Gärtn., ed. 2. 3: 489 (1842)
Thunbergia bikimaensis De Wild. in Pl. Bequaert. 1: 446 (1922)
Thunbergia delamerei S.Moore in J. Bot. 38: 205 (1900)
Thunbergia doddsii Paxton in Paxton's Mag. Bot. 15: t. 221 (1849)
Thunbergia fryeri Jacques & Hérincq in Man. Gén. Pl. 3: 445 (1851)
Thunbergia fuscata T.Anderson ex Lindau in Beibl. Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 41: 40 (1893)
Thunbergia kamatembica Mildbr. in Bull. Jard. Bot. État Bruxelles 17: 84 (1943)
Thunbergia leucantha Van Houtte in Hort. Belge 3: 249 (1836)
Thunbergia manganjensis Lindau in Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 17: 92 (1893)
Thunbergia nymphaeifolia Lindau in Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 33: 184 (1902)
Thunbergia oculata S.Moore in J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 38: 269 (1908)
Valentiana volubilis Raf. in Specchio Sci. 1: 87 (1814)

PUBLICATIONS

Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1-1192.

Araújo, D. & Alves, M. (2010). Climbing plants of a fragmented area of lowland Atlantic forest, Igarassu, Pernambuco (northeastern Brazil). Phytotaxa 8: 1-24.

Arbo, M.M. & al. (2018). Flora Argentina. Flora vascular de la República Argentina 20(1): 1-488. INTA, IMBIV & IBODA.

Balick, M. J., M. H. Nee & D.E. Atha (2000). Checklist of the vascular plants of Belize. Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden 85: 1-246.

Barthelat, F. (2019). La flore illustrée de Mayotte: 1-687. Biotope éditions.

Bosser, J. & al. (eds.) (2000). Flore des Mascareignes 127-135: 1. IRD Éditions, MSIRI, RBG-Kew, Paris.

Castle, G.E. (1994). Flore des Seychelles Dicotylédones: 1-663. Orstom Editions.

Darbyshire, I., Kordofani, M., Farag, I., Candiga, R. & Pickering, H. (eds.) (2015). The Plants of Sudan and South Sudan: 1-400. Kew publishing, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Dassanayake (ed.) (1998). A Revised Handbook to the Flora of Ceylon 12: 1-390. Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. PVT. LTD., New Delhi, Calcutta.

Fischer, E., Rembold, K., Althof, A. & Obholzer, J. (2010). Annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Kakamega forest, Western province, Kenya. Journal of East African Natural History 99: 129-226.

Fosberg, F.R., Sachet, M.-H., Oliver, R. (1979). A geographical checklist of the Micronesian Dicotyledonae. Micronesica; Journal of the College of Guam 15: 41-295.

Garcia-Mendoza, A.J. & Meave, J.A. (eds.) (2012). Diversidad florística de Oaxaca: de musgos a angiospermas (colecciones y listas de especies), ed. 2: 1-351. Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

Germishuizen, G. & Meyer, N.L. (eds.) (2003). Plants of Southern Africa an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14: 1-1231. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.

Girmansyah, D. & al. (eds.) (2013). Flora of Bali an annotated checklist: 1-158. Herbarium Bogorensis, Indonesia.

Gosline, G., Bidault, E., van der Burgt, X., Cahen, D., Challen, G., Condé, N., Couch, C., Couvreur, T.L.P., Dagallier, L.M.J., Darbyshire, I., Dawson, S., Doré, T.S., Goyder, D., Grall, A., Haba, P., Haba, P., Harris, D., Hind, D.J.N., Jongkind, & al. (2023). A Taxonomically-verified and Vouchered Checklist of the Vascular Plants of the Republic of Guinea. Nature, scientific data 10, Article number: 327: [1]-[12].

Grierson, A.J.C. & Long, D.G. (2001). Flora of Bhutan 2: 1-1675. Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh.

Hammel, B.E., Grayum, M.H., Herrera, C. & Zamora, N. (eds.) (2020). Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica 4(1): 1-904. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis.

Hedberg, I., Kelbessa, E., Edwards, S., Demissew, S. & Persson, E. (eds.) (2006). Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea 5: 1-690. The National Herbarium, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia & The Department of Systematic Botany, Upps.

Heine, H. (1976). Flore de la Nouvelle-Calédonie et Dépendances 7: 1-212. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris.

Hokche, O., Berry, P.E. & Huber, O. (eds.) (2008). Nuevo Catálogo de la Flora Vascular de Venezuela: 1-859. Fundación Instituto Botánico de Venezuela.

Idárraga-Piedrahita, A., Ortiz, R.D.C., Callejas Posada, R. & Merello, M. (eds.) (2011). Flora de Antioquia: Catálogo de las Plantas Vasculares 2: 1-939. Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín.

Iwatsuki, K., Yamazaki, T., Boufford, D.E. & Ohba, H. (eds.) (1993). Flora of Japan IIIa: 1-482. Kodansha Ltd., Tokyo.

Kobayashi, S. & Ono, M. (1987). A Revised List of Vascular Plants Indigenous and Introduced to the Bonin (Ogasawara) and the Volcano (Kazan) Islands. Ogasawara Research 13: 1-55.

Kotiya, A., Solanki, Y. & Reddy, G.V. (2020). Flora of Rajasthan: 1-769. Rajasthan state biodiversity board.

Kral, R., Diamond, A.R., Ginzbarg, S.L., Hansen, C.J., Haynes, R.R., Keener, B.R., Lelong, M.G., Spaulding, D.D. & Woods, M. (2011). Annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Alabama: 1-112. Botanical reseach institute of Texas.

Kress, W.J., DeFilipps, R.A., Farr, E. & Kyi, D.Y.Y. (2003). A Checklist of the Trees, Shrubs, Herbs and Climbers of Myanmar. Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 45: 1-590. Smithsonian Institution.

Kuo, M.L. (ed.) (2012). Flora of Taiwan, ed. 2, Suppl.: 1-414. Editorial Committee of the Flora of Taiwan, Second Edition, National Taiwan University.

Lejoy, J., Ndjele, M.-B. & Geerinck, D. (2010). Catalogue-flore des plantes vasculaires des districts de Kisangani et de la Tshopo (RD Congo). Taxonomania 30: 1-307.

Lisowski, S. (2009). Flore (Angiospermes) de la République de Guinée. Scripta Botanica Belgica 41: 1-517.

Lê, T.C. (2005). Danh lục các loài thực vật Việt Nam 3: 1-1248. Hà Nội : Nhà xuất bản Nông nghiệp.

López Patiño, E.J., Szeszko, D.R., Rascala Pérez, J. & Beltrán Retis, A.S. (2012). The flora of the Tenacingo-Malinalco-Zumpahuacán protected natural area, state of Mexico, Mexico. Harvard Papers in Botany 17: 65-167.

MacKee, H.S. (1994). Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie, ed. 2: 1-164. Museum national d'histoire naturelle, Paris.

Marchioretto, M.S., Pires da Silva, V.R.S. & Parode, M.F. (2015). A família Acanthaceae Juss. no Rio Grande do Sul. Pesquisas: Botanica 68: 7-82.

Monteiro de Barros, A.A., de Andrade Ribas, L. & Dunn Araujo, D.S. (2009). Trepadeiras do Parque Estadual da Serra do Tiririca, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. Rodriguésia 60: 681-694.

Nelson Sutherland, C.H. (2008). Catálogo de las plantes vasculares de Honduras. Espermatofitas: 1-1576. SERNA/Guaymuras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

Ningombam, D.S. (2014). The family Acanthaceae for the flora of Manipur: 1-115. LAP Lambert academic publishing.

Onana, J.M. (2011). The vascular plants of Cameroon a taxonomic checklist with IUCN assessments: 1-195. National herbarium of Cameroon, Yaoundé.

Pasha, M.K. & Uddin, S.B. (2013). Dictionary of plant names of Bangladesh, Vasc. Pl.: 1-434. Janokalyan Prokashani, Chittagong, Bangladesh.

Plunkett, G.M., Ranker, T.A., Sam, C. & Balick, M.J. (2022). Towards a checklist of the vascular flora of Vanuatu. Candollea 77: 105-118.

Rajbhandari, K.R., Rai, S.K. & Chhetri, R. (2022). A Handbook of the Flowering Plants of Nepal 4: 1-522. Department of Plant Resources, Thapathali, Kathmandu, Nepal.

Sauerbier, H., Cabrera Calixto, F. & Muer, T. (2023). Flora Vascular de Canarias: 1-1514. Turquesa.

Sita, P. & Moutsambote, J.-M. (2005). Catalogue des plantes vasculaires du Congo, ed. sept. 2005: 1-158. ORSTOM, Centre de Brazzaville.

Smith, A.C. (1991). Flora Vitiensis Nova. A new flora for Fiji (Spermatophytes only) 5: 1-626. Pacific Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai.

Thulin, M. (ed.) (2006). Flora of Somalia 3: 1-626. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Troupin, G. (ed.) (1985). Flora du Rwanda 3: 1-729. Musee Royal de l'Afrique Centrale.

Turner, I.M. (1995). A catalogue of the Vascular Plants of Malaya. Gardens' Bulletin Singapore 47(1): 1-346.

Vikraman, R/R/, Pandurangan, A.G. & Thulasidas, G. (2008). A study on the garden escaped exotics of Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala. Journal of East African Natural History 32: 765-781.

Vollesen, K. (2008). Flora of Tropical East Africa, Acanthaceae(1): 1-285.

Vollesen, K. (2013). Flora Zambesiaca 8(5): 1-184. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Wagner, W.L., Herbst, D.R. & Sohmer, S.H. (1999). Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawai'i, rev. ed., 1: 1-988. University of Hawai'i Press, Bishop Museum Press.

Welsh, S.L. (1998). Flora Societensis: 1-420. E.P.S. Inc. Utah.

Whistler, W.A. (2022). Flora of Samoa Flowering Plants: 1-930. National Tropical Botanicl Garden. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

Wu, Z. & Raven, P.H. (eds.) (2011). Flora of China 19: 1-884. Science Press (Beijing) & Missouri Botanical Garden Press (St. Louis).

Zuloaga, F.O., Morrone, O. , Belgrano, M.J., Marticorena, C. & Marchesi, E. (eds.) (2008). Catálogo de las Plantas Vasculares del Cono Sur. Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 107: 1-3348. Missouri Botanical Garden.

VERNACULAR NAME

Afrikaans: Swartoognooi
Arabic: سوزان سوداء العينين
Catalan: Ulls negres
Chinese (Simplified): 翼叶山牵牛
Chinese (Traditional): 翼葉老鴨嘴 - 黃花山牽牛 - 黑眼花 - 黑眼鄧伯花
Croatian: Crnooka suzana
Czech: Thunbergie křídlatá
Danish: Susanne med det sorte øje
Dutch: Suzanne-met-de-mooie-ogen
English: Black-eyed Susan vine, Blackeyed Susan, Blackeyed Susan clockvine, Blackeyed Susan vine
Finnish: Mustasilmäsusanna
French: Suzanne aux yeux noirs
German: Schwarzäugige Susanne
Greek: Μαυρομάτα Σουζάνα
Guangdong: 翼葉老鴨嘴 - 黃花山牽牛 - 黑眼花 - 黑眼鄧伯花
Hebrew: סוזי שחורת העין
Hong Kong: 翼葉老鴨嘴 - 黃花山牽牛 - 黑眼花 - 黑眼鄧伯花
Indonesian: Patuk manuk, Susana
Japanese: ヤハズカズラ - ヤバネカズラ
Java: Patuk manuk
Korean: 검은눈 수잔
Lithuanian: Sparnuotoji turnbergija
Macao: 翼葉老鴨嘴 - 黃花山牽牛 - 黑眼花 - 黑眼鄧伯花
Malayalam: Karimkanni
Polish: Tunbergia oskrzydlona
Portuguese: Suzana-de-olhos-negros
Russian: Тунбергия крылатая
Slovak: Tunbergia krídlatá
South Africa: Blackeyed Susan vine, Blackeyed Susan
Southern Africa: Blackeyed Susan vine, Blackeyed Susan
Spanish: Hierba africana del susto, Ojitos negros, Ojo de poeta, Ojos de poeta, Ojos de Susanita, Susana, Susana de ojos negros, Susanita
Sunda: Areuy patuk manuk
Swedish: Svartöga
Taiwan: 翼葉老鴨嘴 - 黃花山牽牛 - 黑眼花 - 黑眼鄧伯花
Thai: แววตา
Turkish: Karagözlü Suzan Sarmaşığı

Aryo Bandoro
Dlium TheDlium
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dlium