Aristolochia elegans

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

Overview

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Click on the language to view 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

Habitat

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 2,267 meters (0 to 7,438 feet).[3]

Biology

Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Growth

Culture: Space 36-48" apart.

Soil: Minimum pH: 6.6 • Maximum pH: 7.5

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Light Shade.

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b. (map)

Taxonomy

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

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• A practical guide to garden plants, containing descriptions of the hardiest and most beautiful annuals and biennials, hardy herbaceous and bulbous perennials, hardy water and bog plants, flowering and ornamental trees and shrubs, conife London;Longmans, Green, 1901. url , p. 773.
• About orchids; a chat. London, Chapman and Hall, 1893. url p. 26.
• About trees, shrubs, and climbing plants for South Africa; concise hints on the making of farm plantations, shrubberies. .. Maritzburg, 1919. url p. 109.
• Allan Hancock Atlantic expedition / University of Southern California. Los Angeles, Calif.: The University, 1945-[1964] url p. 13, p. 43.
• An enumeration of Philippine flowering plants, Manila, Bureau of Printing, 1922-26. url p. 119.
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• Botanical publications of E.D. Merrill. [New York, etc., 1899- url p. 119.
• Bulletin / U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry. Washington: G.P.O., 1901-1913. url p. 187, p. 233.
• Bulletin of miscellaneous information. Additional Series. Royal Gardens, Kew. 4 1900 [Kew, Surrey: Royal Botanic Gardens], 1898-1936; url p. 42, p. 552.
• Bulletin of the Department of Agriculture, Trinidad and Tobago. Trinidad: Dept. of Agriculture, 1914-1927. url p. 39.
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• Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 9 1905 Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1890- url p. 188, p. 448, p. 452, p. 457, p. 66, p. V.
• Curtis's botanical magazine. 112 1886 London; New York [etc.]: Academic Press [etc.] url , .
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• Entomological news. [Philadelphia]American Entomological Society, 1925- url .
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• Gardening. Chicago, the Gardening Co., 1892-1925. url p. 181, p. 242, p. 339.
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• Oliver, D. Flora of tropical Africa /by Daniel Oliver. .. assisted by other botanists. 6 1909-1913 London: L. Reeve and co., 1868-1999. url p. 135, p. 138.
• On buds and stipules, by the Right Hon. Sir John Lubbock. .. With 4 coloured plates and 340 figures in the text. London: K. Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., ltd., 1899. url p. 201.
• On buds and stipules. LondonK. Paul, Trench, Trübner1899 url p. 201.
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• Plant culture; a working hand-book of every day practice for all who grow flowering and ornamental plants in the garden and greenhouse, by George W. Oliver. New York, A. T. De La Mare Printing and Publishing Co., c1912. url , , p. 301, p. 305, p. 96, p. 96.
• Plant culture; a working handbook of every day practice for all who grow flowering and ornamental plants in the garden and greenhouse, New York, A. T. De La Mare Co., Inc.[c1921] url .
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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 November 16, 2007:

• Australian National Herbarium
• , Australian National Herbarium
• Comisión nacional para el conocimiento y uso de la biodiversidad, Herbario del Instituto de Ecología, A.C., México
• Herbarium of the University of Aarhus, The AAU Herbarium Database
• Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad
• , Biodiversidad de Costa Rica
• Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden
• National Herbarium of New South Wales, NSW herbarium collection
• USDA PLANTS, USDA PLANTS Database

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2645229
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-18329
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13729490
• Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:92910-1
• GRIN Nomen Number: 4090
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 18329
• International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 92910-1
• U.S.D.A. Plant Symbol: AREL10
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 22694

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]
3. Mean = 254.450 meters (834.810 feet), Standard Deviation = 715.600 based on 99 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]

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