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Thunbergia mysorensis (Brick & Butter Vine) - This evergreen twining vine can grow to 16-25 feet tall by at least as wide with a dense covering of glossy plastic-like dark green lanceolate 4- to 6-inch-long leaves. From the leaf axils emerge the flowering stems bearing two lipped flowers that have red calyces and a floral tube with a 3-inch-tall gapping mouth that is yellow along the edges and down the throat with red reflexed petals. The flowers dangle down from the foliage on ever elongating slender inflorescences, often 3 feet or more long, and in mild winter climates these flowers can be present year-round.
Plant in full sun or part shade and train up on a strong structure. Water occasionally to regularly. It is cold hardy to around 28° F but seems to not like cold wet soils. This vine is fantastic for a high pergola where the pendant flowers can dip down to be viewed from below. Sweet nectar is produced in copious quantities, attracting hummingbirds.
Thunbergia mysorensis comes from the forests at elevations up to 3,000 feet of the Western Ghats, also known as the Sahyadri, the mountain range that stretches along the western coast of the Indian peninsula. The genus name honors the Swedish physician and botanist, Carl Peter Thunberg (1743-1828), who was a protégé of Linnaeus. The specific epithet is in reference to Mysore, a city in southern India. This plant is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful vines in the world and received the prestigious Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit in 1993. Other common names including Indian Clock Vine, Mysore Clock Vine, Lady Slipper Vine and Dolls Shoes. Though never looking that attractive in the nursery container, once established it can be an incredible vine, and a beautiful specimen graced the patio on the side of our nursery office for many years until a cold wet year took it out. We have grown this strangely wonderful plant since 1996.
Information displayed on this page about Thunbergia mysorensis is based on our research conducted about this plant in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about it as it has grown in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.
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