Aristolochia gigantea

Common Name: Brazilian Dutchman's Pipe

Family: Aristolochiaceae

Country of Origin: Panama

Description: The flowers grow in the leaf axils. They are inflated and globose at the base, continuing as a long perianth tube, ending in a tongue-shaped, brightly colored lobe. There is no corolla.

These flowers have a specialized pollination mechanism. The plants are aromatic and their scent attracts insects. The inner part of the perianth tube is covered with hairs, acting as a fly-trap. These hairs then wither to release the fly, covered with pollen.²

Botanical Description available on pg 159 of Revi sion of the North and Central American Hexandrous Species of Aristolochia (Aristolochiaceae), Howard W. Pfeifer, Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, Vol. 53, No. 2. (1966), pp. 115-196. {JSTOR archive, subscription may be required}

USDA Zone: 10a-11

Accession #: 200201892

Accession Date: 2002-09-09 00:00:00

Bloom Status: 🪴 Not Flowering

Location: 3113

Quantity: 1

Source: Doug Goldman - Cornell

Provenance: Plant from Doug Goldman (Cornell). This clone is supposedly a South American clone with true 'giant' flowers up to 18" in length. Older accession in our collections may presumably be a smaller flowered Central American Clone as its flowers only reach a maximum of 6 inches in length.

Division: Magnoliophyta

Class: Magnoliopsida

Subclass: magnoliids

Order: Piperales

Family: Aristolochiaceae

SubFamily: Aristolchioideae

Tribe: Aristolochieae