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Florida Gardening

Pipe Vine ID

15 years ago

When I got this "pipe vine" last year I "assumed" it was an Aristolochia elegans but when it bloomed today I realized it may not be. Does anybody recognize it?

That is 11 inches of bloom and it doesn't have the rounded bottom like the elegans. To tell the truth, I was ready to send it off to the "Land of Misfit Plants" since it hasn't done that well for me but now I may have to rethink that plan!

Here is another picture minus the ruler -

Thanks for any help!

nova

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Comments (10)

katkin_gw
15 years ago
It is a pipe vine, but I think it is gigantica or something like that. ;o)
nova_gw
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks Katkin! I just looked up a picture of the Aristolochia gigantea and it is a match of mine! I knew it was a pipe vine but I also knew it wasn't the elegans. Thanks again for the ID!

nova
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Gwynne - welcome to the forums and we hope you like it here! I think you will, and Cathy is now an "experienced" butterflyer! The only pipevine mentioned that I would be concerned about overwintering successfully in your area would be Aristolochia fimbriata, which is hardy to zone 7, unless they've recently found that it is hardier than that. A. baetica is also hardy, but it is not a native species like the tomentosa, serpentaria, and macrophylla. A. clematitis is also pretty hardy, I think, but it is not a native species either. However, I grow it, serpentaria, macrophylla and tomentosa, and when they get big enough, MAYBE I'll have some PVS's. We discussed this at length in an older thread, and came to the conclusion that A. macrophylla is the best species for your zone. I believe that's what Cathy has. More nurseries are starting to carry this vine, but there are still a lot of nurserymen (and women) who are not very familiar with it. Sunlight Gardens (are they in Tennessee or Kentucky, I don't recall) is good to order from you - they're closer than Mail Order Natives where I got mine. (MON is in Florida, I believe). Niche Gardens may have some, too. I did a search not too long ago on pipevines and a lot of nurseries are already out of stock, so if you want some and they have it at Sunshine, I'd go ahead and order as quick as you can. Susan
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You should be easily able to ID A. fimbriata as the leaves are fairly small, roundish and have white veins. I keep mine in am sun, water regularly and feed maybe once a month. It's a light vine and I keep it on a thin wire trellis. I don't know how hardy fimbriata is but I store it dormant over the winter in the garage or the unheated greenhouse. It just started growing again a few weeks ago. I don't have durior.
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Hi argus, I'll have to look up what I bought, but it was the usual Dutchman's pipevine that's sold here in the midwest. Thanks for the info. My problem is right now, I just don't have vertical space. Our house needs painted, so I don't want to do it against the house. Our fence around the yard is only 4' tall. And I'm always adding onto the chicken coop. I guess I'm going to have to think about buying a trellis in the spring......or grow it up a large tree. Thanks again.
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Looks a lot like a vine called Virginia Creeper, used in landscapes. Makes a very nice vine on walls or trellises. The leaves turn a beautiful red in the fall, then goes dormant for the winter. It grows an extensive root system and is very difficult to get rid of once well established. However, if you use some full strength glyphosate, not the ready-to-use mix but the stuff that is 40% or more active ingredient, you can use a cotton glove or paintbrush or sponge and coat new sprouts when they come out of the ground. This allows you to miss getting your holly by accident, and it will take the vine out but may need a couple applications as regrowth appears. The Roundup won't hurt the holly as long as you don't get any on the holly leaves even though their roots are close together. Your other alternative is to continue doing what you are doing now--keep cutting it off everytime some growth appears out of the ground to prevent any photosynthesis and gradually starve the roots out.
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countrynest
15 years ago
Hey Nova! I bought the same one at Market of Marion, last year. The Flowers are huge with many more buds. Dave's garden web has good info on it. I love mine! I have watch the process
from bud to fully opened and I find it so interesting. Does anyone know if it attracts flies and digest it inside the pipe? I think I read something about it but I'm not sure.
Felix
scents_from_heaven
15 years ago
Felix, the flower does not digest the flies but utilizes them for pollination and is in fact a bed and breakfsst for flies. I have enclosed a link that will give you more detailed information that is quite informative. Linda

Here is a link that might be useful: Flies and the Pipe
MPH101
15 years ago
Aristolochia brasiliensis (aka: Aristolochia gigantea var. 'brasiliensis')
countrynest
15 years ago
Thank you,Linda. Great link.
Felix
manature
15 years ago
mph101, I'm glad to know the variety. I had a very large gigantea, but the bloom did not look the same as this one. It was a lighter color, rounder, and had a long "tail" on the end that made it look like something from the ocean...a portuguese man-of-war, or something alien. I was wondering what the difference was. Thanks for clearing it up.

Marcia
nova_gw
Original Author
15 years ago
Felix - I got mine at Kenny's last year and it did nothing until this spring. I was hoping it would grow up a pine tree but it really hasn't done much except put out that one glorious bloom!

Linda - Great Link!

mph101 - Thanks for the clarification!

nova
MPH101
15 years ago
Marcia the plant you describe with the tail is Aristolochia grandiflora and not gigantea.
The A. grandiflora produces a stunning bloom but it is one of the foulest smelling things I have. A. gigantea doesn't smell nearly as foul.
A. grandiflora is my favorite even if it makes you gag. Truly the wild beautiful flowers are worse than the carrion (stapelia) flower.

A. gigantea blooms are more brightly colored with veining then the pictured var. brasiliensis. Pure gigantea blooms are more rigid and formed not as sloppy/saggy.
Curiously I have a plant that was labeled brasiliensis yet it produces true large gigantea blooms until about this time of summer when some of the very b-i-g rusty/brown brasiliensis blooms.
The smaller blooming one common in cultivation is A. latiloris (elegans). Its a great plant but not as vigorous as A. gigantea and its more effected by the constant butterly attacks until well established.

Another great Aristolochia that equals gigantea for vigor is A. ringens. A robust plant with big blooms that stick out like a pelican's beak. Extremely unique and quick growing.

I grow some others that are interesting. The native (USA) ones are nice too, but the blooms are not showy however the native butterflies need them and love them.

Here is a link that might be useful: check out aristolochia plants
MPH101
15 years ago
p.s. - the link gives some great photos but the species names are not all correct. The first plant shown as Aristolochia brasiliensis is not current. A couple photos listing different names are in fact the same plant. This is because the scientific classification of the plants changes.

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