Hi. This vine grows rapidly by clinging tendrils - it has grown about 35 feet in 10 months and began flowering at about 10 feet in size. These orange flowers appear at every leaf node and when they are finished a branch starts at the node and more flowers come. So far it has flowered continuously. The leaves are about 6 to 8 inches across and the flowers are about 3 inches in diameter. I have seen it growing on trees in the rainforest.
No idea. But just wanted to say that this is an awesome picture.
Thanks "marieortiz". It is an awesome vine!
The first thing that came to mind for me was Combretum constrictum, doesn't quite look like it but maybe it's at least related
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/150643/index.html
Hello DNP.
That is a stunning flower, and a great picture. Thank you for sharing it with all of us. Please keep posting your pictures and comments. I dream about gardening in your climate!
By the way, I am a serious tropical vine enthusiast, but I am blown away by this one. I have no idea whatsoever what it is.
Regards,
Erick
As always, ecrane3 has posted intelligent and interesting commentary. I think you are on the right track.
Erick
DNP - beautiful vine!!! If you ever get seeds, please let me know.
We enjoyed your neck of the woods about 10 years ago....drove to Arenal and all over CR...from Coco Bay where we left our boat. Your country is amazing. Your volcano is amazing....
It sounds almost too aggressive. But that is a beautiful bloom!
Hello All.
I am VERY interested to know what this vine is. Does anyone have any thoughts on how we can identify it? It has a big "Wow!" factor for me!
Thanks again, DNP, for initiating this thread and posting the beautiful picture.
Erick
Might try posting on the ID forum too, I would think most of the experts on tropical plants would hang out here but who knows, maybe there's someone who doesn't follow this forum because they don't grow tropicals but might still recognize it. Definitely worth a shot!
that's a really cool flower.
Thanks for the suggestion ecrane3. I have a combretum constrictum growing and it is quite different and more shrubby; the leaves are different in shape and texture and the flowers are more delicate than those on my vine.
This is the first year I have grown my mystery vine but if I can identify the seeds you are welcome to some AlohaHoya and ErickMN.
I shall try it on the ID forum
What do the seed pods look like? I'm going through the pdf I found at http://ravenel.si.edu/botany/PRFlora/Bejucospdf/vol51web.pdf . It's over 400+ pages. You have too many vines in PR. :)
-Joe
The other place you might check is Top Tropicals website--they have about a million pictures of different tropical plants (make sure you check their general picture collection, not just the stuff they have available for sale right now). It might take a while to look through everything but chances are they have a pic of it.
Correction, not PR, CR, Costa Rica. Different region, different vines. Found this image in someone's photobucket, http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://mongabay.com/thumbnails/honduras/flora/Orange_Flowers.gif&imgrefurl=http://travel.mongabay.com/honduras/honduras_flora.html&h=112&w=150&sz=17&hl=en&start=331&um=1&tbnid=OhXoAor81YiOYM:&tbnh=72&tbnw=96&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcosta%2Brica%2Borange%2Bflower%26start%3D324%26ndsp%3D18%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-US%26sa%3DN .
-Joe
Thanks for the picture joe, the image marked "orange flowers" looks like my vine but the leaves are more lobate than those on my vine - same genus, probably different sp.
I believe carlo05 (Belgium) in the plant ID forum has identified it correctly for me: Genus Gurania, species possibly eriantha or speciosa.
Thank you all in this forum for helping me, if you don't hear from me again you will know the Gurania grew over my entire house and locked me in because it is growing very fast!
DNP
What an interesting thread, about a most unusual and very striking vine. Thank you for starting it DNP. Please share more pictures in the future - of anything growing around you!
Erick
What a beautiful flower, DNP. The leaves remind me of the bleeding heart vine (Clerodendrum). I'm another that love vines.
:) Donna
Yes, they reminded me of clerodendrum leaves too.
I'm with Erik, need to find out how to aquire this vine!
Rj
Yeah what RJ and Erick said, :o) I come back at least 3 times a day to check this vine out. (Looks the same every time captivating!)
I believe this is Gurania makoyana. Fairchild has this in their rainforest.
Okay, we MUST find some seeds of this vine. I checked Google, Yahoo and eBay and found nothing. Does anyone have any other ideas?
Thank you.
Erick
How about contacting Fairchild directly to see if they have seeds or plants to sell?
That's good advice ardesia. Thank you. I just sent Fairchild an email.
Erick
Do tell..what is Fairchild? Have I missed an exotic place?
rj
Only the best of the bestest.
Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens, just south of Miami
www.fairchildgarden.org
Thanks!
I'm going to go look right now!
Rj
Amygirl is correct, it is Gurania makoyana - a friend at Else Kientzler Botanical Garden in Sarchi, CR had it identified for me by an expert at the CR National Herbarium. Apparently its common names in CR are Bejuco de papalomoyo and Pata de danta.
I do wish I had seeds to give to you all but so far it has not produced fruit, hopefully you will have luck with Fairchild but, be warned, it is VERY vigorous.
At first fruit I shall let all who "must have it" know about it.
DNP
Hi from South Florida.
Wow, what a beautiful flower and such a vigorous vine, also. But caveat emptor (Buyer beware). Be careful what you wish for. You wouldn't want to unleash such a vigorous vine into your unsuspecting environment. This kind of vine could end up causing major damage. Or then again, coming from the rain forest, it may just not thrive in your environment.
I am definitely one of the "must have it" people. I have searched the internet high and low for seeds. I found nothing. ErickMN, If Fairchild answers your queries, please let us know what they have to say about it. Fairchild is one of my favourite places, about 20 miles from here. I may pay them a visit. It has been a while.
My latest fad is the jade vine, which I just saw in Hawai'i. I'll go shopping for it on Monday. That Gurania makoyana seems just as intriguing and way more invasive.
Let's all please be careful what we plant.
Sylvain.
I agree Sylvain. My vine is very vigorous but so far it has kept to 3 or 4 trees in my rainforest and has not had any apparent negative effect on them. The cutting I grew on my verandahs, and of which I took the picture, is growing all over the place but so far no suckers or other kudzu-type behaviour, it just keeps getting longer and branching. Also, I haven't noticed the vine growing rampantly in other rainforests I have been in in CR so hopefully it is not like kudzu etc. I shall report if it gets out of control!
DNP
Sylvain,
You make some excellent points. Thank you for raising the topic. I would never want to be party to introducing anything invasive.
Fortunately, in my zone, nothing tropical would have any hope of making it through our winters (-20F at times), but I appreciate that invasiveness may be an issue in more southern climates.
Great thread, DNP. Please keep posting pictures.
Erick
ErickMN, I used to live in Montreal (zone 5, 4-b some winters) I know for a fact that tropicals don't stand a chance of living beyond the month of November. But you see here in Florida, with our subtropical climate, all those tropicals and invasives are displacing our natives. I have only been here 18 months since leaving polar latitudes. I have become acutely aware the environmental damage all these introduced plants and animals are causing.
When I first got here, someone told me to be careful because if I dropped a slice of bacon on the ground and left it there, I would be growing pigs soon enough. I laughed but the principle was not that far from the truth.
DNP, I agree in thanking you for starting such an interesting thread. That vine has only invaded 4 or 5 trees and your porch. It's a good beginning; the stuff dreams are made of. As long as your machette is always handy and you don't sit by it too long, you'll be OK. Still, I would love to get my hands on one of those vines. That's why I'll visit Fairchild soon.
Sylvain.
Growing up in equatorial W. Africa, the trees and vines are symbiotic, although I couldn't state right off what the tree gets out of the deal, but the jungles are covered in vines. I had a White Passion flower vine cover my entire pear tree for the past 4 years, the vine became huge...it didn't make it through the winter, and the tree...shook it off and keeps going!
Rj
DNP, I think you need to start rooting cuttings for all of us....lol!
:) Donna
I actually work at Fairchild. The Gurania makoyana in our rainforest was originally collected in 1995 in Panama, as cuttings. Under our collecting permit and the rules of the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD), we cannot sell or distribute material from this plant. Sorry, perhaps you can find another source of this vine. It is quite a rampant grower, but seems easy enough to control by pruning.
You work at Fairchild, lucky you. I volunteer at Flamingo Gardens in Davie. Not selling or distributing something aggressive is a good thing. 'll make sure to look up the specimen next time I visit Fairchild.
Sylvain.
My friends from Zone9tropicals just got back from there last weekend. He actually brought home some cool plants in his suitcase!
Did he have a collecting permit? Were the plants inspected when he returned to Miami? If not, these plants could harbor insects or disease. This is one of the ways that new pests are introduced into the U.S.
He was at Fairchild in Miami. There was a sale and alot of wholesalers were there.
