Thunbergia alata - Black-eyed Susan vine

Thunbergia alata otherwise known in English as Black-eyed Susan is often seen in some parts of the world as a vine that grows on fences or over other plants. It is sometimes considered a weed despite its striking flowers for which it is cultivated and prized for by some gardeners who grow it on trellises or as a green screen for privacy.

Thunbergia alata, Black-eyed Susan vine

The genus Thunbergia is named in honour of the 18th century Swedish botanist Carl Peter Thunberg.

Additional Information:

Scientific Name: Thunbergia alata
Common names: Black-eyed Susan vine (English); Suzanne aux yeux noirs (French); Schwarzäugige Susanne (German); Suzanne-met-de-mooie-ogen (Dutch);
Taxonomic hierarchy: 

Kingdom: Plantae - Plants
Subkingdom: Viridaeplantae – Green plants
Infrakingdom: Streptophyta – Land plants
Division: Tracheophyta – Vascular plants
Subdivision: Spermatophytina – Spermatophytes (seed plants)
Infradivision: Angiospermae – Angiosperms (flowering plants)
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Superorder: Asteranae –
Order: Lamiales –
Family: Acanthaceae –
Genus: Thunbergia – 
Species: Thunbergia alata –

Notes: 

• I am using the taxonomical classification system used by ITIS (Intergrated Taxonomic Information System). I have decided to use this system in order to avoid confusion as well as because it offers a comprehensive hierarchy from kingdom right through to subspecies whereas other sources only go as far as order or  provide the names of some of the higher taxonomical ranks but only indicate "unclassified" rather than providing the rank.
• When and where possible I will endeavour to include alternatives classifications although  I may limit this to occasions where an opportunity arises to discuss the reason for the different classifications.
• Taxonomical data used in this post was retrieved [June 15 2014], from the Integrated Taxonomic Information System on-line database, http://www.itis.gov.

References:

Books:

• Royal Horticultural Society:

On-line sources:

• Royal Horticultural Society: Entry for Thunbergia alata
• Official Website of the: Bristol University Botanical Gardens Thunbergia alata
• BBC Plant Finder: Entry for Black-eyed Susan
• Kew Gardens - Seed Information Database: Entry for Thunbergia alata
• Missouri Botanical gardens: Entry for Thunbergia alata
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System on-line database: Entry for Thunbergia alata
• Hawaiian Plants and Tropical Flowers: Entry for Thunbergia alata - Black-eyed Susan vine
• Missouri Botanical gardens: Entry for Thunbergia alata
• Dave's Garden: Entry for Thunbergia alata
• Fine Gardening: Entry for Thunbergia alata
• Cresent Bloom: Entry for  Super Order Asteranae
• Wikipedia: Entry for Thunbergia alata
• Wikipedia: Entry for Thunbergia
• Wikipedia: Entry for Acanthaceae
• Wikipedia: Entry for Lamiales

Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters Blog by Vincent Albert Vermeulen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Based on a work at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

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My other blogs

· Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters (on plants, animals as well as gardening, conservation and environmental matters): http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.com/
· The Blood of Souls (language, translation and etymology) : http://thebloodofsouls.blogspot.com/
· Whiskers on Kittens (Life with Kittens and Cats in general) : http://whiskersonkittens-vincent.blogspot.com/

Some Random plants and birds from Samoa

This is one of the plants I found growing at the summit of Mount Vaea where Robert Louis Stevenson's tomb is. It looks like Lantana but I am only familiar with the yellow and orange variety so I cannot be certain although the flower structure looks similar. The other major difference is that all of the yellow orange ones I have seen have tons of flowers whereas this one just had a few appearing amidst other plants. Perhaps they are a few young plants struggling to survive amongst the other plants?


Calathea burle-marxii "Blue Ice"

Here is one of the Calathea burle-marxii "Blue Ice" that I transplanted at Alafua. All the Calathea burle-marxii "Blue Ice" and "Green Ice" appear to have survived transplant and as evidenced by the flowers.

 Chinese Violet, (Asystasia gangetica)



Flowers of the Surinam Cherry, (Eugenia uniflora)



Fruit of the Surinam Cherry, (Eugenia uniflora)

 The Surinam Cherry belongs to the plant family Myrtaceae

Flowers of an Unknown shrub



Tomato flowers (Solanum lycopersicum)

Cardinal Myzomela (Myzomela cardinalis)

We saw this chap feasting in a large stand of Odontenema. I am not sure which species we have here in Samoa. It could be either Odontonema strictum or Odontonema cuspidatum although it appears that the two a synonymous so I guess either one could be considered correct.

In any case it is appropriate for a Cardianl Myzomela to been seen amongst these flowers as one of  Odontenema's common names is "Cardinal guard".


Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters Blog by Vincent Albert Vermeulen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Based on a work at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

My other blogs

· Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters (on plants, animals as well as gardening, conservation and environmental matters): http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.com/

· The Blood of Souls (language, translation and etymology) : http://thebloodofsouls.blogspot.com/

· Whiskers on Kittens (Life with Kittens and Cats in general) : http://whiskersonkittens-vincent.blogspot.com/

 

Random Flowers, industrious Bees and camera loving kittens

Honey Bee collecting pollen from Egyptian Starcluster flower (Pentas lanceolata)

Cardinal Firespike (Odontenema strictum)

Chinese violets (Asystasia gangetica)

Incidentally both the Chinese violet (Asystasia gangetica) and Cardinal Firespike (Odontenema strictum) belong to the plant Family Acathaceae.

Caspar Livingstone "Stoney" of Ninja Cat Clan making sure he gets photographed

Pebble and Stoney have different techniques for getting their photos taken. Stoney is proactive in that the sees you taking pictures and then accidently wanders in to the frames using the "Oops I did not realise you were taking photos of the plants but I AM cute aren't I?" technique. Pebble on the other hand takes the "I am way too important and cute to have to go look for a photographer so I will sit here and strike a pose and photographers will gravitate to me" technique.

Pebble of Ninja Cat Clan posing and waiting for the photographer to gravitate to him and realise that he just must take a picture