Aristolochia gigantea

• Overview
• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Description

Family Aristolochiaceae

Herbs, shrubs , rarely lianas, subshrubs , or trees ; root , stems, and leaves with oil cells . Leaves alternate; stipules absent; petiole usually present and well defined; leaf blade simple , usually pinnately veined, sometimes palmately 3-5-veined, margin usually entire, rarely 3-5-lobed. Inflorescences terminal or axillary , racemes , cymes, or corymbs, or flowers solitary. Flowers bisexual , zygomorphic or actinomorphic . Perianth usually with 1 petaloid whorl (in Saruma with 2 whorls: outer one sepaloid , inner one petaloid), mostly connate into distinct tube , cylindric to campanulate or subglobose; limb rotate, urceolate , cylindric, or ligulate , 1-3-lobed; lobes valvate . Stamens 6-12 (in China), in 1 or 2 series; filaments adnate to ovary (in Asarum) or style column (in Thottea) with anthers free , or filaments and anthers fully adnate to style column to form gynostemium (in Aristolochia) ; anthers 2-loculed, dehiscence longitudinal . Ovary inferior to superior, 6-loculed (in Thottea 4-loculed) ; carpels connate only at base or fully fused; ovules numerous , anatropous , usually in 1 or 2 series; placentation parietal . Styles free or connate, column 3- or 6-lobed (in Thottea 5-20-lobed) . Fruit a fleshy or dry capsule, rarely siliquiform or follicular . Seeds many; testa somewhat hard or crustaceous ; endosperm copious , fleshy; embryo minute.

About eight genera and 450 600 species: primarily in tropical and subtropical regions; four genera (one endemic) and 86 species (69 endemic) in China.[1]

Genus Aristolochia

Herbs or lianas, perennial . Stems erect , twining , or procumbent . Leaves alternate, 2-ranked (evident on young growth, becoming obscure with age in some species) ; true stipules absent; pseudostipules absent [present]; petiole sometimes very short. Leaf blade membranous to leathery. Inflorescences on new growth or on older stems, axillary , racemes or solitary flowers; bracts present. Flowers: calyx usually mixture of purple, brown, green, or red, bilaterally symmetric , tubular , usually bent or curved , 1- or 3-lobed, not fleshy , base with utricle (basal, inflated portion of calyx surrounding or containing gynostemium ) ; tube narrowed, sometimes extended proximally as cylindric syrinx (tubular or ringlike structure at juncture of tube and utricle, projecting into utricle cavity) and distally as annulus (circular flange at juncture of tube and limb) on limb; corolla absent; stamens 5-6, adnate to styles and stigmas, forming gynostemium; ovary inferior, 3-, 5-, or 6-locular; styles 3, 5, or 6, connate in column. Capsule dry, dehiscent . Seeds flattened or rounded , sometimes winged . x = 6, 7, 8.

Species ca. 300: nearly worldwide.

Most European and tropical species of Aristolochia are believed to be pollinated by small flies attracted to the flowers by the fetid odors and purple-brown color. Flies enter the flower when the stigmas are receptive and are trapped until after the anthers dehisce (H. Solereder 1889, 1889b). No formal studies of pollination of the North American species have been reported.

Many species of Aristolochia have been used in the treatment of snakebite; the treatment may or may not be effective. All species contain aristolochic acid , which is variously reported as tumor-causing or tumor-inhibiting (J. A. Duke 1985).

The leaves of many species are eaten by pipe-vine swallowtail butterflies. The larvae eat leaves of these species and sequester aristolochic acid in their bodies, making them unpalatable to birds (W. H. Howe 1975).[2]

Physical Description

Biology

Growth

Culture: Space 6-8' apart.

Soil: Minimum pH: 6.1 • Maximum pH: 7.8

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun .

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 10a, 10b, 11. (map)

Taxonomy

Synonyms

Howardia Gigantea

Notes

An accepted name in the RHS Horticultural Database.

Place of publication : Nov. gen. sp. pl. 1:75, t. 48. 1824

Name verified on 06-Jun-2000 by ARS Systematic Botanists. Last updated: 18-Jul-2001

Similar Species

Members of the genus Aristolochia

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 40 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

A. anguicida (Harlequin Dutchman's Pipe) · A. baetica (Birthwort) · A. bilabiata (West Indian Dutchman's Pipe) · A. bilobata (Twolobe Dutchman's Pipe) · A. brasiliensis (Aristolochia) · A. californica (California Dutchman's Pipe) · A. chilensis (Oreja De Zorro) · A. clematitis (Birthwort) · A. contorta (Dutchmans Pipe) · A. cordifolia (Heartleaf Dutchman's Pipe) · A. coryi (Cory's Dutchman's Pipe) · A. cymbifera (Mil-Homens) · A. elegans (Calico Flower) · A. erecta (Dutchman's Pipe) · A. fimbriata (White Veined Dutchmans Pipe) · A. gigantea (Calico Flower) · A. gigantea 'Brasiliensis' (Dutchmans Pipe) · A. grandiflora (Calico Flower) · A. indica (Indian Birthwort) · A. labiata (Mottled Dutchman's Pipe) · A. leuconeura (Aristolochia) · A. littoralis (Calico Flower) · A. macrophylla (Broadleafed Birthwort) · A. manshuriensis (Birthwort) · A. maxima (Florida Dutchman's Pipe) · A. odoratissima (Fragrant Dutchman's Pipe) · A. pearcei (Scrambling Dutchmans Pipe) · A. peltata (Peltate Dutchman's Pipe) · A. pentandra (Marsh's Dutchman's Pipe) · A. peruviana (Aristolochia) · A. pilosa (Pipevine) · A. reticulata (Texas Dutchman's Pipe) · A. ringens (Dutchman's Pipe) · A. sempervirens (Dutchmans Pipe) · A. serpentaria (Black Snakeroot) · A. tomentosa (Common Dutchmanspipe) · A. trilobata (Bejuco De Santiago) · A. watsonii (Indian Root) · A. wrightii (Wright's Dutchman's Pipe) · A. 'Guimaraes' (Dutchmans Pipe)

More Info

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Further Reading

• A naturalist in Brazil; the record of a year's observation of her flora, her fauna, and her people, by Konrad Guenther. .. translated by Bernard Miall. .. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1931. url , p. 16, p. 374.
• Bulletin of miscellaneous information /Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 1914 London: H.M. Stationery Office, 1900-1941. url p. 138, p. 397.
• Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. 1914 41 New York: Torrey Botanical Club, 1870-1996 url p. 318.
• Flora Costaricensis / William Burger, editor. 13 1983 Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, 1983. url p. 82, p. 83, p. 84, p. 85.
• Garden and forest; a journal of horticulture, landscape art and forestry. New York: The Garden and forest publishing co., 1888-97. url p. 444.
• Glimpses into the life of Indian plants: an elementary Indian botany / by I. Pfleiderer. Mangalore: Basel Mission Book and Tract Depository, 1916. url p. 286.
• International catalogue of scientific literature. LondonPublished for the International Council by the Royal Society of London1901-1920 url p. 436.
• Papers and proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania. Hobart, Tasmania, The Society. url p. 31, p. 90.
• The American florist: a weekly journal for the trade. Chicago: American Florist Company, [1885-1931] url p. 417.
• The Bradley bibliography; a guide to the literature of the woody plants of the world published before the beginning of the twentieth century; Cambridge, Riverside Press, 1911-18. url p. 182, p. 386.
• The Garden: an illustrated weekly journal of gardening in all its branches. London: [s.n., url , , , , , p. 434.
• The Gardeners' chronicle and agricultural gazette. London: published for the proprietors, 1844-1873. url p. 1360, p. 566.
• The Gardeners' chronicle: a weekly illustrated journal of horticulture and allied subjects. London: [Gardeners Chronicle], 1874-1955. url , , , , p. 221, p. 341, p. 552, p. 674.
• The Journal of horticulture, cottage gardener and country gentlemen. London: George W. Johnson and Robert Hogg, 1861-1877. url p. 315.
• Cheng Ching-yung, Yang Chun-shu & Hwang Shu-mei. 1988. Aristolochiaceae. In: Kiu Hua-shing & Ling Yeou-ruenn, eds., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 24: 159245.
• Pfeifer, H. W. 1966. Revision of the North and Central American hexandrous species of Aristolochia (Aristolochiaceae). Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 53: 1-114.
• Pfeifer, H. W. 1970. A Taxonomic Revision of the Pentandrous Species of Aristolochia. [Storrs.]

Notes

Contributors

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed March 27, 2012.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal January 19, 2008:

• Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad
• , Biodiversidad de Costa Rica
• Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 3495132
• Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:92960-1
• GRIN Nomen Number: 4094
• International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 92960-1
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 606464

Footnotes

1. Liguo Fu, Nan Li & Robert R. Mill "Aristolochiaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 5 Page 246. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
2. Kerry Barringer "Aristolochia". in Flora of North America Vol. 3. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.