A flora of Manila - Rainforestation

ACANTHACEAE 439
8. GRAPTOPHYLLUM Noes ,
Erect glabrous shrubs with purple or variegated leaves. Inflorescence
terminal, paniculate, the flowers pedicelled, arranged in few-flowered clus-
ters, the bracts and bracteoles small. Calyx small, 5-parted, the lobes equal,
linear-lanceolate. Corolla elongated, the tube inflated upward, the limb very
oblique, 2-lipped, the upper lip shortly 2-fid, the lower one 3-lobed, Stamens
2; staminodes 2, small. Ovary 4-ovuled. Capsule oblong, hard, long-stalked.
(From the Greek "writing" and "leaves," in allusion to the variously marked
leaves.)
A small genus of about 4 Australian and Polynesian species, 1 commonly
cultivated.
* 1. G. PICTUM (L.) Griff. (G. hortense Nees). Morado (Sp.-Fil.) ; Sarasa,
Balasbas (Tag.).
An erect branched shinib 2 to 3.5 m high, glabrous throughout. Leaves
opposite, entire, oblong to broadly elliptic, narrowed at both ends, somewhat
acuminate, shortly petioled, 10 to 20 cm long, dull-purple, or green and va-
riously mottled with white or gray. Inflorescence 6 to 12 cm long. Corolla
dull-purple or reddish-purple, about 4 cm long. (Fl. Filip. pi. 7, 8.)
Commonly cultivated for its ornamental foliage, and in hedgerows etc.,
fl. most of the year; in and about towns troughout the Philippines, but not
spontaneous. Probably a native of Polynesia, now cultivated in most trop-
ical countries.
The form called "Morado"; with dull, brownish-purple leaves is the more
common; another frequent form has its leaves green, blotched along the
midrib with white.
9. THUNBERGIA Linnaeus fils
Scandent herbaceous or somewhat woody vines, or erect shrubs. Leaves
often cordate, angular or hastate. Flowers axillary, solitary or in pairs,
or racemose, the bracts at the base of the pedicels leaf-like, the bracteoles
large, coherent by their margins at least when young. Calyx small, anular,
10- to 16-toothed, often obscure. Corolla large, the tube ventricose, curved,
the lobes 5, rounded. Stamens 4, in 2 pairs, near the base of the corolla-
tube. Disk cushion-shaped or annular. Style long. Capsules globose,
abruptly narrowed into an elongated, empty beak. Seeds 2 in each cell.
(In honor of C. P. Thunberg, a Swedish botanist.)
Species about 75 chiefly in Africa and Asia, some in Malaya and Aus-
tralia, 4 or 5 in the Philippines, mostly introduced.
1. Vines.
2. Flowers pale-blue or purplish, large 1. T. grandiflora
2. Flowers yellow, with or without a dark-purple center 2. T. alata
2. Flowers white 3. T. fragrans
1. Erect shrubs; leaves rounded or acute at the base; flowers violet-purple.
4. T. erecta
1. T GRANDIFLORA (Rottb. & Willd.) Roxb.
A large, coarse, somewhat woody vine. Leaves opposite, broadly ovate,
6 to 18 cm long and wide, somewhat pubescent, angularly broadly lobed, base
prominently cordate. Flower large, axillary, pedicelled, solitary, or in long,
pendulous racemes, the bracteoles ovate, 3 cm long, enclosing the buds, deciduous.
Calyx a narrow ring. Corolla about 8 cm long, veiy pale-blue or