Gloriosa superba

Gloriosa superba is a slender, herbaceous vine growing from a thick tuberous rootstock.
It is able to climb up to 3 m in height, with tendrils formed at the tip of the leaves.
All parts of this plant are poisonous, especially the tuber.

The stem of Gloriosa superba is very flexible and fragile.
It is usually 30 cm to 1.80 m long, but can grow up to 5 m in good condition.
There is 1 to 4 slender deciduous stems growing from the tuberous rhizome.
The rhizome is fleshy, elongated, often forked, red-brown in colour.
The plant is maintained upright by the leaf tendrils that grow on thickets. 
The stem and branchlets are green in colour and glabrous.

The leaves of Gloriosa superba are simple, growing in an alternate, opposite or whorled arrangement.
They are oblong to lanceolate in shape and bright green in colour. 
The leaf is about 3 to 10 cm long and 1 to 3 cm wide. 
The leaf shows a prominent midrib and many lateral nerves. 
The leaf is chartaceous and glabrous with a cordate base, an entire margin and an acuminate, tendrilled apex.
The leaf tip elongates into a slender tendril that coils around any nearby support to get a grip. 

The flowers of Gloriosa superba are bisexual, growing solitary or in sub-corymbose at the tip of the branches.
They are 6 to 12 cm wide, and the pedicel is 6 to 11 cm long.
There are 6 glabrous petals, oblong to lanceolate in shape, with an undulated margin at maturity. 
The flower gradually spread backwards, sequencing the petals colour from green to yellow then scarlet. 
There are 6 prominent stamens that spread outwards. 
The filaments are about 4 cm long and the anthers are slightly curved. 
The base of the flower is a large, oblong, green 3-celled ovary.

The fruit of Gloriosa superba is an ellipsoid-oblong capsule. 
It is about 3 to 5 cm long and 1 to 2 cm wide. 
The fruit is torulose (cylindrical with alternate swellings and contractions). 
When mature, the capsule opens and exposes the seeds to the open.

The seeds of Gloriosa superba are red to brown in colour. 
There are many seeds, contained on each lobe of the capsule. 
The seeds are round, fleshy and about 5 mm across.