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Thunbergia laurifolia
This is a woody, very sturdy flowering vine . The flowers form in long clusters and are nicely fragrant when they first open but fades . The vine is quite tough and grows very high into trees or onto whatever is within reach. Appears to be drought and cold hardy with most of the flowers appearing on the part of the vine with full sun exposure. The flowers are long lasting, staying about a day before dropping off. This particular vine is growing on a residential fence and facing due south. The plant has an obvious relationship with a large species of fire ant. While I was taking these pictures today, the hotter the weather became, the more active the ants in their duties. This plant also attracts numerous other insects such as 3 species of butterflies including Monarch, dragonflies, beetles, ladybugs, spiders and a couple other species of smaller ants. These were just a few I spotted the short time I was there taking pictures. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get pictures of all of them. Whatever she is, she has quite a diverse following.
Residential area at the roadside on the southwest boarder of the yard. Central Florida.
The specific epithet laurifolia refers to its laurel-shaped leaves.
I had a Senior Content Editor at The Royal Botanic Gardens in the United Kingdom identify this plant as indeed a Laurel Clock Vine and he also provided this link. http://plantsoftheworldonline.org/taxon/...
@Rahul Upadhyay, this is what Wikipedia says about the leaves of the T. laurifolia:Thunbergia laurifolia leaves are opposite, heart-shaped with serrated leaf margin and taper to a pointed tip. Flowers are not scented and borne on pendulous inflorescences. The hermaphrodite flower is trumpet-shaped with a short broad tube, white outside and yellowish inside. The corolla is pale blue in colour with 5–7 petals, one larger than the others.
The second photo in my set shows a perfect example of the leaf as it it described in the text above.
I think T. laurifolia has completely smooth leaf margin while that of T. grandiflora is toothed, similar to what we have in the photos. :)
Thanks all for the help identifying my flower spotting. The plant is a Laurel clock vine or Thunbergia laurifolia.
If you search for real photos based on the scientific name, you will find better photos for comparison than the illustration. Here is another reference: http://keys.lucidcentral.org/keys/v3/eaf...
Machi, the plant in your link is the same. However, the illustration in the Wikipedia link for the clockvine shows leaves that are quite different. All I see in the link you posted is a photo. Was there a reference as well?
Thanks Upadhyay , although the flowers are very similar, the leaves of the clockvine are very different.
Spotted on May 19, 2015
Submitted on May 19, 2015
