Aristolochia pentandra

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

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

Habitat

Wet Caribbean-type lowlands; 0-50 m [3].

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 2,401 meters (0 to 7,877 feet).[4]

Biology

Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Taxonomy

Synonyms

A. racemosa Brandegee • Aristolochia marshii Standley • Einomeia Pentandra

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 15-Mar-2000

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 the Bahamas, John I. Northrop, October 12, 1861-June 25, 1891; a memorial volume / edited with a biographical introd. New YorkColumbia University Press1910 url p. 150, p. 196.
• A naturalist in the Bahamas: John I. Northrop, October 12 1861 - June 25, 1891; a memorial volume, ed., with a biographical introduction by Henry Fairfield Osborn. New York, The Columbia university press[c1910] url p. 150.
• A naturalist in the Bahamas: New York, Columbia University Press[c1910] url .
• Contributions from the University of Michigan Herbarium. 14 1980 Ann Arbor: University Herbarium, University of Michigan, 1939- url p. 133.
• Flora of Miami; being descriptions of the seed-plants growing naturally on the Everglade Keys and in the adjacent Everglades, southern peninsular Florida. New York, The author, 1913. url p. 179.
• Flora of Yucatan, by Paul C. Standley. 3 1930 Chicago, Field Museum of Natural History, 1930. url p. 251.
• Flora of the Florida Keys: being descriptions of the seed-plants growing naturally on the islands of the Florida reef from Virginia Key to Dry Tortugas / by John Kunkel Small. New York, J.K. Small, 1913. url p. 142.
• Flora of the southeastern United States; being descriptions of the seed-plants, ferns and fern-allies growing naturally in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and in Oklahom by John Kunkel Small. New York, The author, 1913. url p. 1133.
• Flora of the southern United States, containing an abridged description of the flowering plants and ferns of Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida; arranged according to the natural system by A.W. Chapman. New York, American Book Company[1897] url p. 644.
• Memoirs of the Torrey Botanical Club. 12 1902-1907 Durham, N.C.: Published for the Club by the Seeman Printery, 1889- url p. 34.
• Phytologia memoirs. Plainfield, N.J.: H.N. Moldenke and A.L. Moldenke, 1980- url p. 18.
• The Bahama flora, by Nathaniel Lord Britton and Charles Frederick Millspaugh. New York, The authors, 1920. url p. 113, p. 113, p. 113, p. 113.
• Wrightia. 7 1981-1984 Richardson, Tex. [etc.]University of Texas at Dallas. url p. 201.
• 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 November 16, 2007:

• Comisión nacional para el conocimiento y uso de la biodiversidad, Herbario del Instituto de Ecología, A.C., México
• Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden
• USDA PLANTS, USDA PLANTS Database

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2645238
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-18339
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13729573
• Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:93220-1
• GRIN Nomen Number: 429218
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 18339
• International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 93219-1
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: PDARI010F0
• U.S.D.A. Plant Symbol: ARMA8
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 22699

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. "Aristolochia pentandra". in Flora of North America Vol. 3. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
4. Mean = 425.830 meters (1,397.080 feet), Standard Deviation = 968.590 based on 6 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.