Herbs, erect, creeping or climbing. Leaves opposite, sometimes cordate or hastate at base. Flowers axillary. Bracts 2, large, elliptic or ovate, enveloping the small calyx. Calyx usually of 10-18 linear teeth, rarely a small saucer-shaped body. Stamens 4, didynamous, 2-thecous; anthers opening by longitudinal slits. Retinacula 0. Ovary 2-locular, with 2 ovules in each loculus. Fruit a spherical beaked capsule. Distinguished by the large bracts, the calyx with its numerous lobes, the method of anther dehiscence and the beaked fruit. Derivation of name: Named after Carl Peter Thunberg (1743-1828) Worldwide: 90 species in the Old World tropics Burundi: 14 taxa. Insects associated with this genus:
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| Species | Content | |
| alata Bojer ex Sims | Description, Image | |
| bogoroensis De Wild. | ||
| fischeri Engl. | ||
| graminifolia De Wild. | ||
| gregorii S. Moore | ||
| laborans Burkill | ||
| lancifolia T. Anderson | Description, Image | |
| masisiensis De Wild. | ||
| mildbraediana Lebrun & L.Touss. | Image | |
| oblongifolia Oliv. | Description, Image | |
| petersiana Lindau | Description, Image | |
| schimbensis S. Moore | Description, Image | |
| usambarica Lindau | Description, Image | |
| verdcourtii Vollesen |