Aristolochia trilobata

Hello All.

I thought I would share a couple pictures of my first A. trilobata flower of the season. Thanks to its very unpleasant smell, it was very popular with the flies in my neigborhood.

Erick

One more. I could watch very small flies (not pictured here) walk all the way down the flower into the base where, presumably, the reproductive structures are.

very cook Erick! I am fascinated by these vines - they are so unique.

That one is a beauty.

Eric, your pictures of your Aristolochia always amaze me. How long do they take to bloom if grown from seed?

X

That is a way cool flower, Erick! The calliphorid flies think it smells of rotting meat. Yummy! LOL OooooOh I want to grow THAT one!! Where can we get seeds?

Joseph

Thank you floridabunnie and angel_tree_baby!

X, thank you as well! How kind of you. I've found a great deal of variability in the genus in blooming times from seed. Some have bloomed for me at less than a year old, e.g. elegans, fimbriata, gigantea, triangularis, etc. Others seem like they need more time. I have an A. ringens that is going on four years with no flowers. With a few significant exceptions, most Aristolochias seem to become more floriferous with age, so I try to stay patient with them!

Thank you Joseph! It was fun to watch the flies enjoy the flower. They seemed absolutely fascinated by it, and I'm sure the nasty stench had a lot to do with it. In all my Aristolochia trolling on the web, I have never ever seen seeds of this species for sale. However, I see them regularly offered as rooted cuttings/plants on eBay (which is where I got mine years ago). I've found them to root easily from cutings. This is a fun and easy Aristolochia to grow and I highly recommend it.

Erick

I have growing A. elegans, A. ridicula and a hybrid so will with hopes see flowers this year. If you don't have ridicula I could see if I could root a stem and maybe we could make a trade, Erick. I would be interested in learning your method for rooting cuttings...I am lousy at doing this with Salvias and Pelargonium, but I keep trying.

Joseph

Whoa I bought a plant on eBay. I hope it is the real deal.

Sweet, Eric! ;-)

Really unique flower Eric, are these winter hardy in your zone?? Clemen

Joseph, congratulations on your new Aristolochia! I get flowers on my A. trilobata in spring, summer and fall, so hopefully you will get flowers soon. Please post pictures! I, too, have A. ridicula growing as well, but no flowers yet. I've found that all of my Aristolochias root well from stem cuttings. They key seems to be to keep the humidity high (by covering them with plastic or glass), making sure to let in fresh air a few times a day, and keeping the light bright (but no direct sunlight, of course). I encourage you to keep trying!

Thank you Liz!

Thank you cmdelg. Unfortunately, A. trilobata is definitely not hardy here. I believe it is a Central American species, very tropical. The only Aristolochias that reliably overwinter here for me are tomentosa, macrophylla, clematatis and serpentaria.

Erick

Thanks Erick for the info, so how do you keep your beauiful vine in he winter??? Bring her in, get a cutting or just let her dieeeeeeeeeeee in the winter months???? Curious, i have a jungle that goes in my house inside, DH has was come to terms with me, either the plants and him, or divorce, he choose number one, plants and jungle that is lol, Clemen