Dutchman's Pipe (Aristolochia gigantea)

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RWhiz Spring Valley, CA(Zone 10a) Sep 16, 2004

Dutchman's Pipe
Aristolochia gigantea

Mature vine in San Diego

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hanna1 Castro Valley, CA(Zone 9a) Sep 16, 2004

Wow, I've never seen this large one before, fascinating! Very pretty.

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spklatt Ottawa, ON(Zone 5a) Oct 09, 2004

RWhiz, it's really nice to see it in this context of growing on the fence. Great photo; thanks for posting it.

Shannon

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CaptMicha Brookeville, MD(Zone 7a) Jan 29, 2005

I bet it smells terrific! Jk, but it looks terrific. How old is mature?

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RWhiz Spring Valley, CA(Zone 10a) Jan 29, 2005

Four- or five-inch trunk mature. Actually this one smells pretty good. This one is A. gigantea but there is a similar one called Aristolochia grandiflora which is slightly smaller with that dangly lip and smells awful.

-Ron-

This message was edited Jan 29, 2005 12:55 AM

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CaptMicha Brookeville, MD(Zone 7a) Jan 29, 2005

I'm glad then b/c I just got the gigantea. Which one of the two are larger, flower wise?

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RWhiz Spring Valley, CA(Zone 10a) Jan 29, 2005

Michelle, if you look under the selection of images posted under A. gigantea, you will notice some look different from others. The one I posted is called A. gigantea v. 'brasiliensis'. The other one is the regular variety. I may be wrong, but I believe that A. gigantea v. 'brasiliensis' has the largest blooms of any aristolochia. They are easily a foot or more long and smell slightly of the scent of lemons.

-Ron-

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Jan 29, 2005

Such an awesome, out-of-this-world looking plant flower! I must try growing it! Is it easy from seed?

Joseph

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CaptMicha Brookeville, MD(Zone 7a) Jan 30, 2005

Smelling like lemons is definable better than smelling like carrion!

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spklatt Ottawa, ON(Zone 5a) Jan 30, 2005

Hmmm...I don't know about that....tough call ;-)

Out of curiosity, as I'm not familiar with this plant, does the other species smell like carrion in order to attract a certain kind of pollinating insect or bird?

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CaptMicha Brookeville, MD(Zone 7a) Jan 31, 2005

Mm hmm, it attracts flies that pollinate it. Flies who are drawn to the scent of a dead animal, you get it, I'm sure.

Did you know that the Corpse Flower even produces heat to mimick a decaying animal? I learned that yesterday, thought that was pretty interesting.

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spklatt Ottawa, ON(Zone 5a) Jan 31, 2005

Thanks. Sometimes it's beetles instead of flies - I wasn't sure which one applied to Aristolochia grandiflora.

That is interesting about the Corpse Flower - hmm, I bet the mitochondria are behind that. :-)

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