''Aristolochia gigantea'', the Brazilian Dutchman's pipe or giant pelican flower ( syn. ''Aristolochia sylvicola'' Standl.), is an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that ...

native to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. Typical of subtropical

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro) and the 5th-largest b ...

and

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...

vegetation Vegetation is an assemblage of plant species and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic characte ...

, it is a vigorous

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, whic ...

climber (vine) with heart-shaped leaves and spectacular fragrant flowers. This plant is cited in ''

Flora Brasiliensis ''Flora Brasiliensis'' is a book published between 1840 and 1906 by the editors Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius, August Wilhelm Eichler, Ignatz Urban and many others. It contains taxonomic treatments of 22,767 species, mostly Brazilian angiosp ...

'' by

Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius Carl Friedrich Philipp (Karl Friedrich Philipp) von Martius (17 April 1794 – 13 December 1868) was a German botanist and explorer. Life Martius was born at Erlangen, the son of Prof Ernst Wilhelm Martius, court apothecary. He graduated PhD ...

. ''A. gigantea'' and other tropical Dutchman's pipe varieties pose a threat to the pipevine swallowtail butterfly. The butterfly confuses ''A. gigantea'' with its native host plant and will lay eggs on it although pipevine swallowtail caterpillars cannot survive on the foliage."Aristolochia gigantia: A Death Sentence for Pipevine Swallowtails" by Guest Photographer, June 8. http://www.monarchbutterflygarden.net/aristolochia-gigantea-kills-pipevine-swallowtails/ In cultivation in the UK - where it must be grown under glass - this plant has gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nor ...

’s Award of Garden Merit. It does not tolerate temperatures below . It can be grown from seeds or cuttings. Image:AristolochiaGigantea.jpg Image:AristolochiaGiganteaVine.jpg

References

External links

''Aristolochia gigantea''
photo

Flora Brasiliensis: ''Aristolochia gigantea''
gigantea Flora of Brazil {{Piperales-stub