Diagnostic description ⁴

Tecomaria capensis (Thunb.) Spach, Hist. Nat. Veg. Phan. 9: 137. 1840.

Fig. 48. A-C

Basionym: Bignonia capensis Thunb.

Synonym: Tecoma capensis (Thunb.) Lindl.

Clambering or semi-erect shrub, 3-4 m in length. Stems cylindrical, lenticellate, puberulous; cross section of the mature stem with peripheral phloem not forming a cross. Leaves opposite, imparipinnate, 7-11-foliolate, without tendrils; leaflets 1.5-4.2 × 1-3 cm, elliptical to subrounded, membranaceous, sessile, puberulent, the apex rounded, the base rounded or abruptly cuneate, the margins serrate; upper surface dull, pale, with slightly prominent venation; lower surface light green, dull, punctate, with slightly prominent venation, forming a conspicuous network, with tufts of hairs in the axils; petioles 1.5-2.5 cm long; pseudostipules absent. Flowers numerous, in axillary racemes; pedicel 6-10 mm long. Calyx green, crateriform, 5-7 mm long, 5-dentate, ciliate, puberulent; corolla orange or reddish orange, tubular, curved, 3.5-5 cm long, with 5 oblong, unequal lobes, the 2 upper lobes smaller than the 3 lower; stamens 4, of equal length, exserted; ovary superior, oblong, glabrous, with a crateriform disc at the base. Capsule linear, 5-11 cm long and 7-8 mm wide; seeds in 2 rows, slender, 2-winged, the wings hyalinemembranaceous.

Phenology: Collected in flower in February and March.

Status: Exotic, cultivated, uncommon.

Selected Specimens Examined: Acevedo-Rdgz., P. 11353; Morrow, C.F. 61; Shafer, J.A. 1474.

Distribution ⁵

Distribution: Cultivated in gardens along the Cordillera Central, also on St. Croix and St. Thomas. Native to South Africa, but widely cultivated throughout the tropics.

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Forest & Kim Starr, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://www.biolib.cz/IMG/GAL/54671.jpg
2. (c) 2006 Luigi Rignanese, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?seq_num=200906&one=T
3. (c) Forest & Kim Starr, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://www.biolib.cz/IMG/GAL/54170.jpg
4. (c) Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28435177
5. (c) Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28435723

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• African Plants - a photo guide
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• eFloras.org
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
• IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
• SEINet Symbiota portals
• Tropicos
• World Flora Online

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