Aristolochia trilobata

Here is my plant. It's blooms are so unusual.

Here is a close-up of the flowers.

Don't they open up? I love the leaves on this one.

That's as much as they open. They are like a little pouch with a very long tail. They're cute! I agree, the leaves on this one are very pretty.
I also have A. clematitis which has small flowers and A. ringens which has a funny looking flower too.

really neat Susie

are they like a pitcher plant? they are so cool!

Very unusual. I've not seen this one before.

I will try to get a better picture of the flower when I get back home. From the front the flower looks nothing like A. elegans or A. gigantea. When you look at the flower from the side, you can see the "pouch" or "pipe" shape just like all the aristolochias have. This one has a "hood" sort of like a Jack-in-the-pulpit, but has a long tail too.

Awh, susie, you just make me sick, sick, sick...................now I want one too.....no telling where I will have to go look to find one either........
And this time of the year to boot...........ho humm...........got any seeds?

LoL........... 8o)

dEE

It's got blooms. I guess I should go out there in the rain and pollinate some for you????

notmartha,

Aristolochias don't eat bugs like pitcher plants.

Usually the flowers are stinky and attract flies or gnats. The bugs get stuck in the pipe long enough to get covered with pollen, then get out and fly to the next flower and pollinate it. At least that is the idea.

Susie that sounds like a wonderful idea, now why didn't I think of that..........LOL
you go girl..........
THANKS A BUNCHA..........I will owe you one for gettin wet..........LOLOLOL
Dee

8o)

OK, just so you know how I suffered....It's about 55*F, raining, yuckie...my fingers got cold holding the q-tip........my new jacket got damp...(is it working, does anybody feel sorry for me yet?) my toes got cold cause I had sandals on...I saw a spider on the leaf, scared me a little..........(it's not working is it?). OK, the gator chased me across the patio, I dropped my camera so I didn't get a picture to show y'all.
I'll keep an eye on them, there are more to open, this thing is loaded with buds.
I read that the aristolochia have to be pollinated by pollen from a different flower than the pollen recipient. The fly crawls into the bloom and is trapped overnight, while there he is fed with nectar from a gland, then in the morning when the pollen from that flower is ripe he is able to crawl out and as he climbs out pollen is deposited on his head to take to another flower. Kind of neat huh?

Neat plant! Calalily, I think you're telling us one of those big fish stories. I didn't know there were gators in Texas....lol!
:) Donna

Now that is the coolest play by play I have heard in awhile. I have a mental picture of it as well and am getting a good laugh.........thanks Susie..........

Your discription of how it is pollenated is how I understand it to be done so the fly does a good job. Hope you get some seed.........
talk to you later.
Dee

Can't believe y'all would think I'd tell a tall tale!
We do have gators here for real. There are a couple that live in the resaca behind my house. Fortunately they are sleeping now. When it's cool they go semi dormant(I guess that's what you call it) and sleep on the bottom under water.

Oh sure....lol! How big are they???
:) Donna

LOL..........SUSIE, I know you are telling the truth about the gator, I remember the picture from the fall.
I have one that lives in the river behind my house but he would have to climb a pretty steep bank to get to me so I don't worry to much about him. The boys see him when they fish in the evenings and at night so we know hes still there...........you know they don't hibernate like frogs and such so don't get to brave...........

Dee

Dee, you don't have to worry about me getting brave, I'm a chicken at heart! I don't go down to the water alone and if I'm out in the back part of the property I check out the bank before I go outside the fence.
I wonder what kind of hibernation they do? I know when it's warm outside you'll see them out on the banks sunning themselves, but when it's cold they are underwater. The frogs are kind of like that here too, when it's nice they are making all kinds of noise, but on days like today they are nowhere to be found.

Dee what river bank are you on in Brazoria. We just bought a place in Cedar Lane. You cannot be too far from it. We were told that Cedar Creek which runs down one side and all the way across the back of our property has also had or has a gator or two in it. The bank on it is steep also but I still think a gator could climb it.

That is too cool looking Susie!

Sorry to take so long to get back..........very busy week........

Frannie I live on the banks of the Brazos, my back yard backs up to it and it really is a beautiful view. The bank is steep but I know the gator could climb it if he wanted to. I take comfort in knowing there is a better food supply for him in the river than up on the bank. We are guessing he is about 8 to maybe even 10 ft long. He is one of the bigger ones we have seen in the area and do treat him with caution and don't take anything for granted.

I have a friend that was going to get some meats from the Smokehouse and what should she stumble across but a 12 ft gator trying to get in the smokehouse to. There smokehouse backed to a narrow shallow bayou and had a pretty steep bank that he managed to scale. It is my guess the gator was lost and hungry since this bayou was so small and just didn't have a food supply enough for a gator his size.
Well she said by the time she got through running and screaming for her life the gator made it back to the water and down the bayou a ways. He later had to be removed since he kept trying to return to the Smokehouse and the meats that we guessed he could smell..............LOL......boy that would have been a real scare to walk up on something sooooo dangerous.
Just remember they are very Dangerous Animals and not to be take lightly at all so be careful when you are out walking.

Since Smithers Lake imported them back in the 60's they have been able to establishe themselves all along the coastal plains where there is a source of water. So they have been around this area long enough that we have some that are really big fella's now. My son and son in law fish the river at night and have had the oppertunity to see several of some size so we know they are out there and we do give them plenty of room.

Dee




k

Is Aristolochia easy to start from seeds? I bought some on eBay and will get them this week. Anyone have any sage advice for a rank newbie to the genus? Thanks!

Joseph

Susie, great looking vine.

Dee, no way would I fish at night knowing there were gators there. I'd want to be able to see where they were so I could run and pray they couldn't catch me. LOL

Gerris, there is an aristolochia group on yahoo that's been discussing aristolochia germination. They soak theirs for a while before planting. I think the fresher the seeds, the better the germination.

Thanks, Calalily, I'll look for the yahoo group! Is it easy to join them? No initiation rites? LOL

It sometimes takes them a while to get arround to approving your membership, but they're not hard to join.