Description of the general characteristics of the plant, tips for caring for tunbergia indoors, transplanting and reproduction, difficulties in cultivation, interesting facts, species. Thunbergia (Thunbergia) belongs to the extensive family of Acanthaceae, which has about 4000 more species, subdivided into 242 genera. Equatorial and tropical regions of the planet are considered to be native habitats: Africa, the Australian continent, the island territories of Madagascar, and South Asian regions. This beautiful flower owes its name to the Swedish natural scientist Karl Peter Thunberg, who lived in 1743-1828, who was engaged in research of flora and fauna in South Africa and the Japanese islands. He was rightfully called "the father of South African botany."
Thunbergia is either an annual or a perennial plant that is distinguished by a herbaceous form of growth or can be a liana. Often has curly shoots, it is an evergreen representative of the flora that does not lose its deciduous color in natural conditions. The height usually varies from 2 to 8 meters. Leaf plates are located on the shoots in the next sequence. The shape is solid or in the form of lobes, there are ovoid outlines or with a notch at the base in the form of a heart. In some varieties, the leaves are jagged along the edge of the sheet. There is also a slight pubescence, the length of the leaf plate can measure 2, 5-10 cm. The color of the leaves is rich emerald or bright green.
The flowering process extends from late spring to autumn days. Tunbergia flowers are funnel-shaped with a fragrant aroma. They grow both singly and in multiples, gathering in inflorescences growing from axillary leaf buds. Their diameter is rather large and reaches approximately 5 cm in length. The color of the buds can vary from the following shades: bright yellow, milk or cream, snow white, pale brown or bright orange. The pharynx of a flower is usually painted in dark purple or burgundy and from a distance is very similar to a black eye. For this, Tunbergia is popularly called "Black-eyed Suzanne". But some varieties of this flower are devoid of such a distinctive feature. The plant looks very decorative with numerous contrasting flowers against the background of juicy green foliage.
Flowers of both sexes can grow on one bush, they are zygomorphic. The calyx of the flower has a simplified structure (reduced), in its functions in the plant are the bracts, which originate from the peduncle. They completely cover the bud. The tube at the bud is five petals fused at its base. There are two pairs of stamens.
After the flowering process, the tunbergia develops a fruit in the form of a box with two nests. It contains two small seeds, the size of which rarely exceeds 4 mm. The fruiting process occurs in late August and early September. If the owner of the flower wants to achieve more abundant flowering, then it is required to remove the wilted buds immediately so that the seeds do not have time to set, and then the plant spends all its strength on releasing new flowers.
The plant needs a support on which it will lean, wrapping around it. Tunbergia is often used for vertical gardening of rooms or posts in gardens. If there is no such adaptation, then the stems of the "Black-eyed Beauty" will hang very beautifully from the flowerpot and therefore the flower is often used as an ampelous culture. Since the plant usually propagates by seeds, the bush is not preserved for several years if it grows sufficiently fast, especially since the result cannot be predictable.
Tips for growing tunbergia indoors and garden
- Lighting. The plant loves good lighting, but it is undesirable to keep a pot or plant tunbergia on the south side, it will not tolerate direct sunlight at noon, but it is also undesirable for partial shade, since the shoots are stretched out. It is necessary to protect it from wind and draft. The windows of the east and west locations will do.
- Content temperature. If the plant is a perennial, then in winter it is kept at a temperature of 16-18 degrees. In general, for growing in the house, you need a comfortable moderate 20-24 degrees.
- Air humidity. The plant feels good at moderate and slightly increased moisture levels. If the temperatures begin to rise, then frequent spraying of the foliage will be required; drops of moisture should not fall on the flowers.
- Watering. In the summer months, the soil is abundantly and often moistened for the plant, but tenbergia will not tolerate waterlogging and will begin to rot. With the arrival of cold weather, it is necessary not to allow the earthen coma to dry out, but watering is significantly reduced.
- Fertilizers for a flower. From mid-spring, when the plant has already developed enough, it is necessary to fertilize every 14 days with fertilizers for indoor flowering plants until the end of summer.
- Soil selection. If "Black-eyed Suzanne" is grown as a potted plant, then transplanting is required only when necessary - if the pot has become small for a flower. At the bottom, drainage is mandatory - expanded clay or pebbles.
The soil for planting should be light, with neutral acidity or slightly alkaline. A substrate from the following components is suitable:
- turf soil, leafy soil, humus, peat soil and river sand (all parts must be equal);
- garden soil, perlite (in a ratio of 3: 1).
If the soil is very acidic, then it is recommended to mix ash or lime into it.
Reproduction of tunbergia
You can get a new flowering plant by planting seeds or cuttings.
Seed material can be obtained when the plant is grown at home, only if artificial pollination is carried out. Then a fruit-box appears in late summer or early autumn, containing a couple of seeds, they are harvested, dried and sown in spring (late February days or early spring), keeping the temperature at 16-18 degrees. In the pots, where the seed will be placed, a layer of 1 cm of drainage and a fertile substrate are poured. After planting, it is required to create the conditions for a mini-greenhouse by wrapping the container with plastic wrap. It is important not to forget to regularly moisten the soil and ventilate the seedlings. After several weeks, when shoots are already visible, it is necessary to remove the film, and put the pot in a better lit place, but away from direct sunlight. When another 14 days have passed, and the seedlings began to grow strongly thickened, you will have to dive them.
When the sprouts of tunbergia reach 15 cm, it is necessary to pinch the top of the shoot, this will be the key to further branching of the bush.
Also, some growers plant seeds directly in the ground with the arrival of May. Seed material collected and dried has germination only for two years. You can also use cut cuttings from a plant bush for reproduction of tunbergia. They must be planted in a moistened sand-expanded clay mixture and create lighting in such a way that the young plant receives it around the clock. As soon as the cutting begins to show signs of rooting (new leaves appear), it is necessary to transplant it into another substrate that is suitable for an adult plant. After that, pinching of the top is required so that the bush begins to branch.
Problems with growing tunbergia
With increased dry air, tunbergia is susceptible to damage by spider mites and whiteflies. The first is manifested by the appearance of a thin cobweb on the leaves or stems, and then their yellowing and deformation. The second pest is visible from the back of the leaf plate in the form of white dots (insect eggs) or small white midges. In the first and second cases, it is necessary to carry out the treatment with a soap, oil or alcohol solution. If sparing methods do not work, then spraying with a systemic insecticide will be required, with repeated treatment after two weeks as a prophylaxis. Some growers note the possibility of the appearance of scale insects or aphids. Aphids are visible to the naked eye in the form of green bugs, and the scabbard is attached to the back of the leaves - brownish dots, sugary sticky formations. When fighting pests, you can also use folk non-chemical methods, or spray with drugs such as "Aktellik", "Ftovir" or "Aktara".
Sometimes the stems, leaves and flowers of tunbergia can become covered with putrefactive spots, as a rule, they mean a fungal disease in the plant. For treatment, it is necessary to remove the affected areas and treat with a fungicide.
If the soil was too dry in the flowerpot, then the tunbergia reacts by dumping the deciduous mass. As soon as the leaves are covered with mold, this is the reason for too much watering. When the foliage of a plant grows very slowly and turns pale, it means that there is not enough lighting for it.
Interesting facts about tunbergia
In addition to the fact that tunbergia is very loved by flower growers, its properties are well known in medicine and cosmetology. It is customary to treat skin problems with poultices of leaf plates on the Malay Peninsula: boils, cuts, ulcers. Wound-healing properties are known not only to shamans, but also to ordinary residents of the places where the flower grows, on its basis tinctures and masks are made that smooth out wrinkles, the skin turgor increases and it acquires a luminous appearance, can cope with pigmentation on the face.
It was also noticed that drugs, which include organic acids contained in tunbergia, slow down the aging process, repair damaged DNA cells. It helps well with food poisoning, diabetes and other endocrine diseases.
Liana can often be used for alcohol and drug addiction, preparing teas with the addition of leaves, which is called rang-jude. With its help, you can cope with the hangover syndrome, as well as other negative addictions.
Thunberg was well known more than 3 thousand years ago. Its properties were used by the priests of ancient China, Malaysia, Thailand and Tibet. Its heavily crushed leaves were used for heavy bleeding during menstruation. Thai doctors used these drugs in extreme heat or as an antidote against intoxication by any means.
Types of tunbergia
All types of plants can be divided into shrub and liana-like.
Here are some of the most commonly grown shrub forms:
- Tunbergia erecta (Thunbergia erecta). Also called Meienia erecta Benth. The plant stretches up to a meter in height. In natural nature, it grows in areas of western Africa, where the toric climate prevails. The leaf plates have ovoid outlines with a pointed apex, measure 5–7 cm. Flowers grow large, reaching 7 cm in length. The color of the tube at the corolla is yellow inside and whitish-lemon outside. Fold the corollas of a deep purple hue. The flowering process does not stop almost all year round. Best grown in moderate indoor temperatures.
- Thunbergia natalensis Hook. This view is very similar to the previous one. The plant got its name from the city in South Africa - Natal, where most of all it is found in the natural environment. Shoots are 4-sided. The leaf plates are ovoid with elongation and subsequent sharpening at the apex, and on the reverse side, along the venation, there is some pubescence. The flower buds are painted in lilac shades with petals, which have a yellow border around the edges. It is also grown in rooms with moderate temperatures.
- Thunbergia vogeliana Benth. Most often, this flower can be seen in nature on the islands of Masias-Nguema-Biyogo. The shoots of the plant grow vertically upward, and stretch in length in the range from 2 to 5 m. The leaf plate is distinguished by an ovoid or elongated-elliptical shape, measuring 7, 5-15 cm in length. At the very base it is wedge-shaped, the edge can be either a simple whole-edged one, or with notches, bare. The flowers are very reminiscent of the buds of the erect Tunbergia - the entire color of the corolla tube is rich purple, and the edge of the petals is bright yellow. Stipules are wrinkled, plump, up to 2 cm long. Cultivated in warm rooms.
The following are the plants growing in the form of vines:
- Thunbergia affinis S. Moore. In nature, the homeland is considered to be the regions of East Africa. The plant reaches a height of 3 m, shoots and leaves are pubescent. The shape of the stems is 4-sided. The leaf plates take on an elliptical shape, with a wedge at the base, the edge is solid, but the edges are wavy. Bare leaves. Petioles are short. The buds are measured in lengths of 10-12 cm, the flowers have a slope to the ground, grow from the axillary buds. The corolla of the bud is colored lilac with a yellow throat. The flowering of this variety is very abundant if the plant is grown as a pot plant.
- Thunbergia grandiflora Roxb. The plant is distributed in a separate area of India - West Bengal. This variety never sheds its deciduous mass, does not change its color. The almost bare stems reach a sufficient height of 3-5 m. The leaf plates are distinguished by finger-dissected forms. They reach a length of 15–20 cm. Their shape can be with uniform lips, dull lobes, or all-edged. The surface is distinguished by both glossiness (on both sides) and a coating with a slight feathering. Flowers measure about 8 cm in width and length. Of these, inflorescences of racemose full form are most often collected, rarely a single flower. The corolla of the bud is divided into two lips, and has three lower and a pair of upper lobes. Usually the color of the bud is light or dark pink-lilac, in very rare cases whitish. Grown in warm rooms.
- Thunbergia laurifolia Lindl.) Also called in the literature Thunbergia harnsii Hook … It grows in the Malay Archipelago. Annual, reaching a height of 2–3 m. The shape of the leaves is oval-elongated, measuring 15 cm in length and 8 cm in width. The petioles can be 5–7 cm long. Dense clusters of flowers are located in the axils. The corolla reaches a width of 7.5 cm, is painted in a purple-brown color, and whitish from the bottom. The pharynx of the flower is milky white. Outside, the corolla tube is shaded with a brown-white scale, the lobes are rounded and almost equal in size. Flowering occurs at the beginning of the summer days and lasts until the autumn months. It is cultivated in rooms with warm temperatures and good illumination.
- Thunbergia mysorensis (Wight) T. Anderson). May be found under the name Hexacentris mysorensis Wight. The plant grows in India. The height of this liana-like shrub can reach 5 m. The clusters of inflorescences are quite long, hanging to the ground, consisting of yellowish flowers measuring 5 cm wide. The tube at the corolla is colored reddish-brown.
For more information on planting and growing tunbergia from seeds, see here:
