THUNBERGIA CHRYS0PS. 
(Golden-eyed Thunbergia.) 
Class. 
DIDYNAMIA. 
Order. 
ANGIOSPERMIA. 
Natural Order. 
ACANTHACEiE. 
! Generic Character.— Calyx with two bracts at the 
base, short, cupola-shaped, truncate or many-toothed. 
| Corolla hypogynous, campanulately funnel-shaped, 
! inflated at the throat ; limb five-cleft, spreading, 
almost equal. Stamens four, inserted within the tube 
of the corolla, didynamous. Anthers two-celled, lobes 
parallel, with tufts of cilias, or sometimes short awns 
at the base. Ovary two-celled ; cells bi-ovulate. Style 
simple. Stigma funnel-shaped, transversely two-lipped. 
I Capsule globose at the base, two-celled, with a narrow 
conical beak, two to four-seeded. Seeds globose, umbi- 
licus bored, with a broad annular callose girdle. 
Embryo without albumen. Cotyledons leafy, condu- 
i plicate. Radicle very short, angular. 
Charming as most of the Thunbergias are, the superiority of the species now 
represented must at once be admitted by every beholder ; for the beautiful variety 
of tint exhibited in its large blossoms, fully entitles it to the first rank in the genus. 
It was discovered by Mr. Whitfield in the interior of Sierra Leone, who, as 
we learn from the Botanical Magazine, at considerable danger and risk, succeeded 
in securing specimens, which he brought safely to England, to the gardens of the 
Earl of Derby, at Knowsley Hall, near Prescot, Lancashire, from whence it has 
already been dispersed throughout many parts of the country, and now exists in 
most extensive nursery establishments in the kingdom. 
When supplied with a very warm and humid atmosphere and planted in a 
large pot, it grows very exuberantly, and will soon extend its shoots to many feet 
in length. But if kept in an airy, cool place, it loses its rambling climbing habit, 
and assumes more of the character of an ordinary erect growing shrub, and is less 
profuse of its flowers. In the Nursery of Mr. Knight, King’s Road, Chelsea, the 
specimen from which our drawing was taken was placed over a tank, in a 
propagating house, and was, doubtless, greatly assisted by the degree of bottom- 
heat with which it was favoured, in forming the numerous flowers which appeared 
all along the shoots. No doubt a close pit or frame in which a little heat can be 
Specific Character.— Plant a climbing evergreen. 
Stems slender, herbaceous, slightly hairy. Leaves 
petiolate, cordate, acute, angularly-dentate at the 
margins, five or seven-nerved, wrinkled. Petiole 
compressedly-terete, without wings. Peduncles 
axillary, single-flowered, shorter than the petioles. 
Bracteas ovate, ciliated, appressed to the base of the 
flower. Calyx truncate. Anthers sagittate, the base 
of the lobes with pedicellate glands. Style filiform, 
bearded above. Stigma of two large leafy, yellow, 
plaited lobes. 
