Streptosolen jamesonii.
Often an erect evergreen shrub 1 to 2 m high climbing stems may be 4 to 6 m high.
The thin flexible stems are much-branched and young stems have short glandular hairs.
The alternately arranged leaves are on a petiole up to around 1 cm long.
The base of the blade may run down it and there are short hairs.
The green to dark green ovate to elliptic blade is up to 4 cm long.
Finely wrinkled it has a pointed tip and a wedge-shaped base.
Both surfaces have short hairs especially on the prominent veins on the lower surface.
Terminal inflorescences are dense clusters of up to 50 flowers.
The pedicels, up to 1 or 1.5 cm long have glandular hairs.
The slightly bell-shaped calyx tube is 5 to 10 mm long.
It has 4 or 5 wide triangular, sometimes unequal lobes around 2 mm long.
The outer surface has a network of prominent veins and dense glandular hairs.
The funnel-shaped corolla has a spirally twisted tube 2 to 3 cm long.
The (4) 5 wide spreading lobes, with rounded tips are up to 8 mm long.
The lobes are of unequal size with the largest being up to 1 cm across at the base.
There are dense glandular hairs on the outer surface and glands in the throat and the inner surface of the lobes.
Petals open a bright yellow and age to orange then red.
There is a form with only pure yellow flowers – S. jamesonii ‘Lutea’.
The 4 stamens are in 2 pairs of unequal length.
The longer pair is inserted near the base of the corolla tube and the shorter pair onto the upper part of the tube.
The long stamens have filaments around 12 mm long and anthers to 2.5 mm.
These have long dense hairs on the filaments.
Short stamens have filaments 3 mm long and smaller anthers, around 1 mm long with only 1 pollen sac fully developed and no hairs.
Anthers are dorsifixed.
There is an annular nectary disc around the base of the ovary.
The superior ovary, up to 2 cm high has 2 locules each with numerous ovules.
There are scattered hairs on the top.
The style, around 1.5 cm long thickens towards the top and becomes wrinkled.
The stigma, up to 2 mm wide has 2 lobes.
The spherical or ovate capsules, 4 to 5 mm long have 2 chambers with many 1 mm brown seeds.
The calyx enlarges to surround it.
J.F.
