Species
+

Tecomaria capensis (Thunb.) Spach

Cape Honeysuckle, Cape Honeysuckle, Cape Trumpet Flower, Cape-honeysuckle

Climate known 44 photographs
Add one to my plants Sow seed

Every figure on this page is derived from public data by a stated rule and says its source; nothing here is written by a person or a model, except the Wikipedia passage, which is quoted and marked as such. How it is made.

Summary

Tecomaria capensis, the Cape honeysuckle, is a species of flowering plant in the family Bignoniaceae, native to southern Africa. Despite its common name, it is not closely related to the true honeysuckle.

Text from Wikipedia, “Tecomaria capensis”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written. Kept separate from everything derived here.

About the genus · Tecomaria

Tecomaria is a genus of flowering plants in the family Bignoniaceae. It includes two species of shrubs or trees native to sub-Saharan Africa, ranging from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania to South Africa.

Text from Wikipedia, “Tecomaria”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written.

Family
Bignoniaceae
Described by
(Thunb.) Spach
Native to
Zaïre, Tanzania, Angola +6
Wild records
969 in range· 134 open

At a glance

Warmest month
26°C
Feb, mean day; nights 18 °C (CHELSA)
Rain
779mm/yr
12 wet months · peak Jan 103 mm (CHELSA)
Light
20–41DLI
mol/m²/day, winter to summer, open sky (CHELSA shortwave)
In short condensed by rule from the cultivation cards · not written by a person
Rain rule: a summer growing season, April to October in the northern hemisphere (October to April at the habitat, southern). Habitat rain 779 mm a year, wettest January at 103 mm, driest June at 30 mm (habitat calendar, southern hemisphere). Open sky over the habitat: 20 to 41 mol/m²/day. Cold floor 5.7 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).
Each sentence is one card's own one-line form, written by the same rule as the card (Its year, Rain, Light, Temperature); the note cannot say what a card does not. Months are given for the northern hemisphere (set your site in Settings to change this), and the habitat's own alongside. The cards · the figures.

Also known as Bignonia capensis Thunb.; Ducoudraea capensis Bureau; Gelseminum capense (Lindl.) Kuntze; Gelsemium capense (Thunb.) Kuntze; Tecoma capensis (Thunb.) Lindl. and 5 more.

Cultivation

Its year Rain rule: a summer growing season, April to October in the northern hemisphere (October to April at the habitat, southern).

This species’ habitat figures, and what two fixed rules read from them.

The rain rule reads a summer growing season: 70% of the year's rain (588 mm of 779 mm) falls in October to April, warmer than the year (wet-season mean 20.1 °C against a yearly mean of 18.2 °C). Months are the habitat's, southern hemisphere; shifted six months for a northern-hemisphere collection: April to October.

Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the envelope cells: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve gives a season to reverse. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain Habitat rain 779 mm a year, wettest January at 103 mm, driest June at 30 mm (habitat calendar, southern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

779 mm a year at the habitat, 588 mm of it October to April. Wettest month January at 103 mm, driest June at 30 mm. Across the envelope cells the year's total runs 557 mm to 1124 mm (10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year) (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; habitat calendar, southern hemisphere).

CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the envelope cells. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light Open sky over the habitat: 20 to 41 mol/m²/day.

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Open sky over the habitat: 20 to 41 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 16, the highest 90th-percentile month 52).

CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Warmth and air Cold floor 5.7 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell is 5.7 °C, the absolute minimum 2.4 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 33.9 °C. Monthly means: coldest night 10.2 °C in July (across the envelope cells 5.3 °C to 13.9 °C), warmest day 25.8 °C in February (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). Cold floor: 5.7 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell (NASA POWER).

NASA POWER daily minima and maxima 1981–2024 at the typical cell, lapse-corrected to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA. The cold floor is the figure named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 54 to 63% across the year (monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the envelope cells.

The figures the cards read from are in Climate below, and where they came from in Natural habitat.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat climate through the yearMean day from 20 °C in Jun to 26 °C in Feb; mean night from 10 °C in Jul to 18 °C in Feb. The cold quarter, Jun to Aug, is the three months around the coldest night. 779 mm of rain a year, most in Jan. The bands show the 10th to 90th percentile across 411 habitat cells. Over 44 years at the typical cell the absolute minimum was 2.4 °C and the 99th-percentile day 33.9 °C; neither is dated to a month. Beneath: daily light integral and relative humidity through the year, each on its own scale.10°20°30°40°33.9° 99th-percentile day (undated)2.4° lowest night in 44 yrs (undated)°C · day and nightcold quarter0255075100125150mm rainDLI 20–41RH 54–63 %JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain 10th–90th percentile across 411 habitat cells cold quarter: the three months around the coldest night extremes over 44 years at the typical cell, marked at the edge: undated DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C25 / 22–3026 / 23–3025 / 22–2823 / 20–2622 / 18–2520 / 16–2320 / 16–2321 / 16–2422 / 17–2722 / 19–2723 / 20–2825 / 21–29
Night °C18 / 15–2118 / 16–2217 / 15–2115 / 12–1913 / 9–1711 / 6–1510 / 5–1411 / 7–1512 / 9–1614 / 11–1715 / 13–1917 / 14–20
Rain mm103 / 28–14990 / 26–14281 / 33–12157 / 35–8837 / 13–11230 / 8–12731 / 5–13744 / 6–10949 / 16–8474 / 39–11091 / 36–12992 / 31–140
DLI41 / 36–5238 / 35–4633 / 31–3827 / 25–3122 / 19–2820 / 16–2621 / 17–2725 / 23–3231 / 29–3836 / 31–4239 / 34–4941 / 36–52
RH %62 / 57–6663 / 57–6763 / 57–6661 / 56–6458 / 53–6255 / 51–6054 / 51–6057 / 51–6160 / 51–6261 / 54–6462 / 56–6562 / 57–66

Each figure is the median across the 411 grid cells holding the 957 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. Extremes and elevation were read at the typical cell 2396:4216 (-29.825, 30.825). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 2.4 °C, 1st-percentile night 5.7 °C, 99th-percentile day 33.9 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Envelope: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 411 distinct grid cells holding the 957 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 2396:4216 (its coldest month's mean night nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -30.00_30.625, lapse-corrected -75 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 372 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across every in-range record's cell, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeZaïre, Tanzania, Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Cape Provinces, KwaZulu-Natal, Swaziland, Northern Provinces· introduced: Baleares, Spain, Italy, Algeria, Tunisia, Madeira, Chad, St.Helena, Bangladesh, Western Australia, New Zealand North, Marianas, Mexico Southwest, Costa Rica, Honduras, Bermuda, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Leeward Is. AB Ant, Puerto Rico, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuelan Antilles, Windward Is., Ecuador, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest
Kew's description“shrub” · “subtropical”· quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Map marker-34.054, 18.426 · in the densest population, 639 records (66% of those in range)
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate envelope rest on all 969 georeferenced records inside the native range; the map shows only the 134 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 1202 km away. 703 records outside the range (gardens, roadsides, misidentifications) ignored. 12 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km and stay on the map but off the climate.
The map markerthe map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population inside the densest 4° block of the 969 in-range records; it decides nothing.

Photographs

Tecomaria capensisTecomaria capensisTecomaria capensisTecomaria capensisTecomaria capensisTecomaria capensisTecomaria capensisTecomaria capensis

Photographs: (c) Leon Perrie, some rights reserved (CC BY); (c) Philwarb, some rights reserved (CC BY) (6); (c) Shaun Swanepoel, some rights reserved (CC BY).

Photographs: iNaturalist did not answer when this page was built; what is shown came from the sources that did.

Papers naming this species

Works whose title or abstract names Tecomaria capensis, most cited first, from OpenAlex (CC0). A mention, not a cultivation source: nothing on this page is drawn from them.

Isolation of endophytic fungi from South African plants, and screening for their antimicrobial and extracellular enzymatic activities and presence of type I polyketide synthases
Muna Ali Abdalla, Abimbola Obemisola Aro, Dorcas A. Gado, Ajit Kumar Passari (2020) · South African Journal of Botany
Topical Wound Healing Activity of Myricetin Isolated from Tecomaria capensis v. aurea
Abdelsamed I. Elshamy, Naglaa M. Ammar, Heba A. Hassan, Walaa A. El‐Kashak (2020) · Molecules
Alien flora in Calabria (Southern Italy): an updated checklist
Giovanni Spampinato, Valentina Lucia Astrid Laface, Giandomenico Posillipo, Ana Cano-Ortíz (2022) · Biological Invasions
Anti–inflammatory, analgesic and antipyretic activity of methanolic Tecomaria capensis leaves extract
Neeraj K. Saini, Manmohan Singha (2012) · Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine
Phytochemical evaluation of Bignoniaceae flowers
Joseph Joselin, Thankappan Sarasabai Shynin Brintha, Augustian Rajam Florence, S. Jeeva (2013) · Journal of chemical and pharmaceutical research
Evaluation of wound healing activity of Tecomaria capensis leaves
NK Saini, Manmohan Singhal, Brijesh Srivastava (2012) · Chinese Journal of Natural Medicines
Fabrication of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells using natural flower dye extracts: A study on performance analysis and solar dye degradation
Giphin George, Raja Sekhar Yendaluru, Anu Mary Ealias (2020) · Energy Sources Part A Recovery Utilization and Environmental Effects
In vitro propagation, phytochemical analysis and assessment of antioxidative potential of micropropagated plants of Tecomaria capensis (Thunb.) Spach
Srishti Yadav, Amit Kumar Singh, Madan Mohan, Subha Narayan Das (2025) · South African Journal of Botany
The complete chloroplast genome of Catalpa ovata G. Don. (Bignoniaceae)
Qingguo Ma, Jianguo Zhang, Jian-guo Zhang, Jun-pei Zhang (2020) · Mitochondrial DNA Part B
The complete plastome genome of Incarvillea compacta (Bignoniaceae), an alpine herb endemic to China
Xiayu Wu, Cuixian Peng, Zhimin Li, Shaotian Chen (2019) · Mitochondrial DNA Part B
Anti-inflammatory,analgesic and antipyretic activity of methanolic Tecomaria capensis leaves extract
Neeraj Phogat, Kuniar, Saini, Singhal (2012) · 亚太热带生物医学杂志:英文版

Similar habitat climate the 6 species whose habitat climate is nearest this one's: mean day and night, month by month, and rain on a log scale, in calendar order, so a habitat with the same seasons six months out is far, not near. Nothing else counts: not range, not family.

History & registers

Where this page came from built 2026-09-20 · dossier v2 · node
gbif.species answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.synonyms answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.vernacular answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
wcvp.distribution answered
gbif.occurrences answeredGBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.3h4zam
climate answered
wikidata answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
wikipedia answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.taxon not asked
inat.photos.wild answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.photos.cultivated nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
commons nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
gbif.media answered
openalex answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped

Every upstream is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, or refused. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 93 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.