Tecoma capensis

(Thunb.) Lindl.

Cape-honeysuckle

BignoniaceaeFlowers

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(c) Colin Ralston, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

iNaturalist · cc-by
(c) Leon Perrie, some rights reserved (CC BY)

What to Eat

Edible parts: Nectar

The nectar is eaten as a snack.

Where to Find It

It is a tropical plant. It grows in the edges of mountain rainforest and in open places amongst rocks. It suits humid locations. In Malawi it grows from about 1,000-2,450 m altitude.

Africa, Angola, Argentina, Asia, Brazil, Burundi, Central Africa, Congo, Dominican Republic, East Africa, Eswatini, Hawaii, India, Indonesia, Malawi, Mozambique*, Pacific, Paraguay, SE Asia, South Africa*, Southern Africa, South America, Swaziland, Tanzania, West Indies, Zambia,

Countries: United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Antigua & Barbuda, Armenia, Angola, Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Barbados, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Bahrain, Burundi, Benin, Brunei, Bolivia, Brazil, Bahamas, Bhutan, Botswana, Congo (DRC), Central African Republic, Congo (Republic), Cote d'Ivoire, Chile, Cameroon, China, Colombia, Cuba, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Algeria, Ecuador, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Micronesia, Gabon, Grenada, Georgia, French Guiana, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Indonesia, Israel, India, Iraq, Iran, Jamaica, Jordan, Japan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, Kiribati, Comoros, St Kitts & Nevis, North Korea, South Korea, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Laos, Lebanon, St Lucia, Sri Lanka, Liberia, Lesotho, Libya, Morocco, Madagascar, Marshall Islands, Mali, Myanmar, Mongolia, Mauritania, Mauritius, Maldives, Malawi, Malaysia, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Nepal, Nauru, New Zealand, Oman, Peru, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Pakistan, Puerto Rico, Palau, Paraguay, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Solomon Islands, Seychelles, Sudan, Singapore, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Somalia, Suriname, South Sudan, Sao Tome & Principe, Syria, Eswatini, Chad, Togo, Thailand, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Tunisia, Tonga, Turkey, Trinidad & Tobago, Tuvalu, Taiwan, Tanzania, Uganda, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, St Vincent, Venezuela, Vietnam, Vanuatu, Samoa, Yemen, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe

How to Identify

A climber. It is a scrambling shrub. It grows 4 m high. The leaflets are in 2-4 pairs. There is a larger leaflet at the end. The leaflets are 2.5 cm long by 1.5 cm wide. The flowers are tube shaped and in clusters. They are bright orange-red.

How to Grow

Plants can be grown from seeds and cuttings. It re-grows quickly after fires.

Propagation: Seed - Cuttings of young wood. Cuttings of half-ripe wood. Layering. The branches often root where they touch the ground/

Medicinal Uses

The powdered bark is used in the treatment of fevers, pneumonia and stomach troubles. The powdered bark is rubbed on bleeding gums to promote blood clotting. A leaf decoction is used in the treatment of diarrhoea and for intestinal inflammation. It is believed to ease pain and produce sleep.

Other Uses

The wood is used for fuel. The cape honeysuckle is a wonderful hedging plant with good regrowth ability after pruning and normally dense and colourful foliage over a long time. It protects the surrounding soil from erosion, whilst its leaf litter improves soil fertility as it decomposes. The flowers are a rich source of sugar for bees.

Names & Synonyms

Bopu, Malangula, Melangula, Umsilingi

Tecomaria capensis (Thunb.) SpachBignonia capensis

References (6)

Peters, C. R., O'Brien, E. M., and Drummond, R.B., 1992, Edible Wild plants of Sub-saharan Africa. Kew. p 69
Ruiters-Welcome, A. K., 2019, Food plants of southern Africa. Ph.D. thesis. Univ. of Johannesburg p 38 (As Tecomaria capensis)
Sukarya, D. G., (Ed.) 2013, 3,500 Plant Species of the Botanic Gardens of Indonesia. LIPI p 723
Swaziland's Flora Database http://www.sntc.org.sz/flora
Welcome, A. K. & Van Wyk, B.-E., 2019, An inventory and analysis of the food plants of southern Africa. South African Journal of Botany 122 (2019) 136–179 (As Tecomaria capensis)
White, F., Dowsett-Lemaire, F. and Chapman, J. D., 2001, Evergreen Forest Flora of Malawi. Kew. p 171 (As Tecomaria capensis)