Blue Trumpet Vine
Thunbergia laurifolia
Widely cultivated in the capitol, Nairobi, Kenya. March 2011.
Blue Trumpet Vine blooms through the seasons with large, blue, yellow-throated, trumpet flowers. Together with its climbing habit it can be confused with members of the true trumpet-vine family, Bignoniaceae. The branching mechanism and leaf morphologies are quite different. At each node the stems are angled and this is the means by which the plant scrambles over other plants. Elyptical leaves are opposite. The flowers are arranged in pendulous spikes.
Native to India, this attractive plant has been cultivated in tropical and subtropical areas worldwide. There are several common species belonging to the same genus, Thunbergia, in Kenya. I look forward to identifying herbivorous insects that make use of both the native and exotic species.