One of the most attractive vines, botanically known as Tarlmounia elliptica and belongs to the family Asteraceae. Leaves are alternate, shortly petiolate, oblong to elliptic. Vernonia creeper provides deep green cover to most of the objects.
The slender stems climb up and then fall down beautifully over a wall or railing and give a live green fencing effect. The tender stems, all hanging down, form a curtain, hence the name Curta.
Curtain Creeper
This is a curious member of the Sunflower family. It is a creeper that finds it difficult to climb without support. So, the slender stems climb up and then fall down beautifully over a wall or railing. The tender stems, all hanging down form a curtain, hence the name Curtain creeper. Basically, it is a foliage plant, grown primarily for its habit of forming a green curtain. The species name elaeagnifolia means, having foliage resembling Elaeagnus, pure olive. Dirty white flowers appear in bunches. As is the case with all members of the daisy family, these ‘flowers’ are actually made up of many small florets. Unlike the classic daisy which has two different kinds of florets, the outer ray florets or ‘petals’, and the central disc florets, members of the genus Vernonia have only one type of floret. This creeper is easy to grow and is commonly seen hanging over walls in cities. Curtain creeper is native to Burma, widely cultivated in India, and has also naturalized here.
