Kingdom: Plantae
(Unranked): Angiosperms
(Unranked): Eudicots
(Unranked): Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Acanthaceae
Genus: Thunbergia
Species: T. alata
Binomial name: Thunbergia alata
Common names: Black Eye Susan Vine
Thunbergia alata, commonly called Black-eyed Susan vine, is an evergreen herbaceous perennial semi-deciduous climbing plant species in the Acanthaceae family. It is native to Eastern Africa and has been naturalized in other parts of the world.
Thunbergia alata has a vine habit and can grow to a height of 1.8-2.4 m. It has twinning stems with heart or arrow-shaped leaves. It favours sun to partial shade. Soft five-petal blooms appear in late Spring/early summer, mid-summer and again in late summer, early autumn. The flowers typically are warm orange with a characteristic dark spot in the centre. However, different varieties can be red, orange, red-orange, white, pale yellow, or bright yellow, with or without the characteristic chocolate-purple centre which inspires the common name. Black-eyed Susans are also known for producing flowers as early as six weeks after germination. The leaves are heart-shaped dicotyledons.
The plant is self-propagating. It can be found as an escapee plant growing down banks.
Thanks to Wikipedia for text and information: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
