Common Name : Golden Trumpet Vine, Buttercup Flower

A vine or shrubby plant with some climbing stems i.e., scandent shrub. It often forms into a clump about 2m tall and 2-3m wide, but can grow much higher when climbing up over other vegetation, up to 6 m in height. The older stems are mostly woody and brownish in colour, while the younger branches are generally green and hairless - glabrous. The stems and leaves both contain a milky sap. The simple leaves are arranged in groups of three or four along the branches, the leaves are whorled or verticillate. They are borne on very short stalks/petioles only 2-5mm long and have blades that are egg-shaped in outline – obovate to somewhat elongated in shape - oblong-lanceolate. These leaves are 5-17cm long and 2.5-6cm wide, have a narrowed attenuate base, entire margins, and a pointed tip i.e., acuminate apex. They are somewhat shiny in appearance, relatively thick and leathery in nature, and hairless. The large flowers are 7-11cm long and 5-7.5cm wide, have five bright yellow petals that are fused together at the base to form a tube i.e., corolla tube which is about 4-8cm long. This tube has reddish markings on the inside and is topped with five spreading petal lobes. The flowers also have five sepals 8-22mm long, that are fused into a much smaller, greenish-coloured, tube at their bases - calyx tube. Each flower also has five stamens that are joined directly onto the inside of the petals i.e., adnate to the corolla tube and a long style with two small branches at its tip. The flowers are borne in loose clusters near the tips of the stems, each containing about ten flowers. Individual flowers are borne on short stalks known as pedicels, about 5-7mm long and the petals are folded and twisted when in bud. Flowering probably occurs mostly during spring and summer. The fruit are rounded i.e., globose, capsules of about 30-75mm across that are densely covered with soft spines about 1cm long. These fruits are rarely seen in cultivated plants. The seeds are somewhat flattened (i.e., compressed), tan in colour and are slightly winged or have a thin (i.e., membranous) margin.