Indian clock vine

The Mysore bindweed is an exuberantly growing climbing plant native to the Nilgiri Hills in southern India. It is a woody evergreen species belonging to the same genus as the well-known Suzanne-with-the-gorgeous-eyes, although the flowers look very different: they are bilaterally symmetrical and strikingly yellow and red coloured. The flowers secrete a sweet nectar and, in regions where they can grow outdoors, are attractive to hummingbirds and honeyeaters, birds that are also only found in warm climates. They appear in striking, long, pendulous clusters. In The Netherlands, the plant grows only in tropical glasshouses, flowering there almost all year. The elongated leaves are not conspicuous, but can quickly cover a large area. The species is named after Swedish botanist Carl Peter Thunberg (1743-1828), a pupil of Linnaeus, who studied the flora of South Africa, Southeast Asia and Japan. The species name mysorensis refers to Mysore, the ancient kingdom in which the Nilgiri Hills lie.