Aristolochia

I was giving my students a mid-term ID exam last Saturday, when we encountered this unusual vine, growing in the Livington Ripley gardens. 

The plant is Aristolochea gigantea, or Dutchman's pipe, a vine native to Brazil.  The flowers, as you can see, are amazing.  Large - almost 8" diameter, the flower consists of a red, velvety flat disc white venation.

A large bladder shaped chamber is attached to the disc with a small tube.  While the structure itself looks a lot like a carnivorous pitcher plant, like Nepenthes. 

But when we dissected the flower, the presence of any digesting fluids was nonexistent.  Instead, the tubular structure was covered with long, fine hairs.  I speculated the hairs were key in moving insects into the tube and to the flower at the base, and further guessed that the pollinator was some kind of scavenging insect, like a fly -- since the flower itself looked like rotting flesh.

Indeed, this plant is considered a carrion flower and is often pollinated by flies.  The hairs play a pivotal role -- they keep the flies trapped at the base of the capsule for several days.  The fly lives on nectar in the capsule until the pollen is released by the anthers, at which point the hairs drop down and the fly climbs out of the chamber.

Aristolochia is derivative from the ancient Greek words Aristo- which means 'best' and -lochia which means 'delivery'.  For a long time this plant was believed to be helpful in childbirth.  It's since been determined that this plant is actually quite dangerous to the kidneys.

Ladew Topiary Gardens, Rose Garden

The Rose Garden at Ladew is an elliptical brick-walled garden. with grass and brick paths, festooned with climbing vines and roses. 

We were just a bit too early to enjoy the roses in full bloom, but it was still lovely to look at the design and some of the perennials in bloom.

 

Stachys byzantina and Clematis x jackmannii provide some variation from the climbing and bush roses. 

I really, really want to replace that piece of wood for something a touch nicer.  I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels that way.

The brick and grass edge to the pond reads very well, and all of the water features have a touch of decay to them that I find appealing.  I like that it doesn't seem to be level anymore and water spills off the left side more heavily.  Makes it feel lived-in.

I also loved this fine, fine textured wrought iron gate and would love to know where to find something similar.  It's lightness is such a change from the brick.

Pothos

Here's another painfully common houseplant, Epipremnum aureum or pothos.  It is not a Philodendron (Philodendrons are never as common as you think as many indoor plants are accidentally called this). 

 

 This plant is native to southeast asia and is a rapidly growing vine.  It will send out adventitious roots, looking for opportunities to anchor into nearby forest trees.  It doesn't quite have that available in an apartment, so you'll have to support it with wire or nails. 

Honestly, I'm not quite sure what to do with it. I guess we'll route it around the kitchen next.  It always reminds me of the scene in Desk Set where Spencer Tracy first meets Katherine Hepburn. 

Monstera deliciousa

I was inspired by last week's posts, many of which featured indoor plants, to share some of the species I have at home.  First up is Monstera deliciosa or swiss cheese plants.  Though most people know this plant by its genus.

Monstera is actually a vine which explains whey I have several stakes propping this plant up.  In the wild it can scramble up hillsides and along the trunks of large trees.

 

Though it's native to Central America, I saw it everyhwere in Hawaii - in planned landscapes or growing along the sides of highways, vining up trees.  The plant is even somewhat iconic in Hawaii.  Below it's incorporated in a mural in the library of the Four Seasons Lodge at Koele.

And many would recognize its leaf used in patterns for Hawaiian quilts, like this one below:

However, it's not to be confused with split leaf Philodendron, or Philodendron pertusum, which looks quite similar.  In this shot, it's P. pertusum growing next to the Alpinia.

From Australia: Pararistolochia praevenosa

Pararistolochia praevenosa: Richmond Birdwing Butterfly Vine

Reaching the sun drenched outer limits in the canopy over the vine forest, after a mammoth vertical, always tortuous climb; and still growing a woody striated girth, around whatever it can find, the Richmond Birdwing Butterfly Vine (Pararistolochia praevenosa) spreads out in search of the green/blue horizon.

Below in the canopy, the liana projects its glabrous, sometimes rusty pubescent new growth into adult leaves, leathery & shiny.  This is the foliage that attracts one of the largest, sweetly coloured butterflies in Australia.  The Richmond Birdwing butterfly (Ornithoptera richmondii) glides by, inspecting for sites to deposit, greenish-yellow eggs, singly or in small clusters, as the climber appears to rest.

Pararistolochia is a member of the Aristolochia family, commonly called the "Dutchman's Pipe" or "Pipevine" in reference to the ‘pipe’ shaped flowers.  It is represented in Australia with about 7 species.  Aristolochia littoralis or A. elegans (Calico Flower) a closely related species is an intruder, both in the southern United States and Australia.  Here in Australia the Birdwing Butterfly is attracted to the foliage of this species but unfortunately it kills the caterpillars. Efforts to avoid this plant’s spread are ongoing.

 

To A Butterfly by William Wordsworth

I've watched you now a full half-hour,
Self-poised upon that yellow flower;
And, little Butterfly! indeed
I know not if you sleep or feed.
How motionless! - not frozen seas
More motionless! and then
What joy awaits you, when the breeze
Hath found you out among the trees,
And calls you forth again!

 

 

Garry Thomas is a practicing ecologist with over 20 years of field survey and scientific reporting experience.  Living on the Sunshine Coast in South East Queensland he specializes in plant ecology and his research work involves extensive travel throughout Australia, often to remote locations.  Garry has a comprehensive understanding of the Australian flora and is particularly interested in the ecology and distribution of regional ecosystems, threatened species as well as the environmental impacts of naturalized species.  In the field of conservation biology his discoveries have helped secure key biodiversity areas.  Some specific examples of his outstanding botanical achievements include the discovery of the most northerly populations of the threatened species Eucalyptus conglomerata, Triunia robusta and Baloghia marmorata, as well as the rediscovery of Romnalda strobilacea in Kin Kin, another threatened plant which had not been recorded from the area since 1917.  In addition to his extensive field experience, Garry has successfully tutored in plant identification and ecology.

Bougainvillea

Today I finally delved into some much-overdue photo management.  I'm not sure how many of you are mac users, but I always struggle with iPhoto.  It's fantastically convenient for uploading photos to the computer from your phone, but I can't quite seem to find a good system for organizing them.  I was getting lazy about placing pics in the right folder and too often the folder name just wasn't generic enough.  Today I threw out all my albums and resorted from scratch.  I used only the following labels: people, places, plants, projects.  

This pic below went into three of those folders.  This is a cultivar of Bougainvillea growing at a plant nursery in Waimanalo, Oahu.  I was photographing it to discuss its use on the project in Hawaii.  (Places, projects, plants).  

When I returned from Hawaii after my most recent August site visit I had every intention of *immediately* blogging about Bougainvillea.  Primarily because it was one of the first plants that had every caused me actual physical harm.  You see, depending on the variety, Bougainvillea can have modest or horrifyingly big thorns.  One of the plants I was handling was of the latter category.  My right index finger got pierced pretty badly by one of the thorns my last day on the site.  At the time, it just felt like a splinter, nothing to worry about.  But the next day I called Honolulu poison control, after waking with a finger that was swollen to about twice its usual size!  I was told to take some benadryl and see if it got better as the day progressed.  I did just that, and tried to ignore the horror stories I had stupidly read online. 

I am happy to say that my finger is just fine - it seemed to get back to normal after about two days.  And despite this medical hiccup, I am still a fan of the plant.  Bougainvilleas were discovered Brazil in the late 18th Century during a voyage captained by Louis Antoine de Bougaiville.  Their hardy habit and their ability to mutate quite easily has led this plant to be a popular favorite in any tropical or warm-Mediterranean climate.  The flowers are generally pink, red or purple, though white hues exist as well.  The pic above was taken at the nursery so the various designers on my Hawaii project could confer on the best shade of pinkish-red for the site in question.

You notice above that the showy part of the flower - the papery pink "petals" are actually bracts.  The true flower is small and white.

Blithwold Display Gardens

Certainly, my favorite part of the Blithwold Estate's grounds were the Display Gardens.  These are tucked behind an original 1901 Lord and Burnham greenhouse, that is still being used to propagate the collections today.  The smaller structure below would typically house gardening tools, though equally important, it anchors the garden beds and also provides a structure upon which a pergola can be set.  The gardens were once populated with only vegetables - it was a proper potager - but today it is used to herald the worthiness of various herbaceous plants. 

 

Rare vines such as Nepenthes grow on the pergola with shade-loving ferns (Asplenium, for instance) crowd the stone path. 

Outside the pergola, tables of orange, geranium and Euphorbia milii are lightly touched by the cascading grape vines.

Here's a shot of the display gardens.  It's basically a reverse-view of the first photo in this post.  I think what makes a garden like this a success is not over-planning it.  As a designer, I probably shouldn't admit that, but the joy of a garden like this derives from its unbridled profusion of colors, textures and sizes.  After seeing so many variations of these types of gardens, I think I've become a bit fine-tuned to spot out the ones that are too carefully constructed.  Look at the heights alone: the beds below are lop-sided.  If a designer was obsessively selecting plants, they'd mirror heights, or would have some kind of alternating rhythm (tall-medium-short-tall-medium-short).  Instead, this looks like the person who picked out the species was too excited about the lovely selection to worry about 'coloring in the lines.'

Clematis paniculata

I have a fond spot in my heart for Clematis paniculata, or sweet autumn clematis, since it was one of the very first plants I learned in my ornamental plants class at Virginia Tech, way back in 1993.  

It's a lovely fall-blooming perennial vine, which is somewhat unnoticeable until this time of year. 

Below, it is growing near the boardwalk in Southern New Jersey. 

 

I have blogged about Clematis before, though those species were crosses of Clematis x jackmanii.   As you can see the flowers below are far different.  They are smaller, with strappier petals and only occur in shades of white. 

 

There's some debate as to whether this plant is invasive or not (some simply call it "vigorous").  I haven't seen this invade woodlands or pop up along highways but inevitably I will start to see that now that I've posted this.  What about you?  Any chance you've seen this plant where it shouldn't be?

 

Let's go back to Oahu for a moment, shall we? 

Here we are at the lagoon by the Hilton Hawaiian Village.  And what's that growing in the sand?  Ipomoea pes-caprae or beach morning glory, or goat's foot vine. 

 

These are pretty sad looking iPhone pictures (taken with a poorly abused iPhone, no less), but it's impossible not to appreciate how this plant thrives in the shallow sandy soil.   A member of the Convolvulaceae family, it's related to the morning glory I blogged about here. 

  

This plant can be found on the beaches of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans.  It's tolerant to salt and wind even in its infancy - the seeds of this plant float on the water and are unaffected by the briny waters.  Ipomoea literally means 'wormlike' - referring to the plant's coiled flower bud.  Pes-caprae as you may have guessed, means 'goat's foot' and refers to the leaf shape, which resembles a cloven hoof.