''Pyrostegia venusta'', also commonly known as flamevine or orange trumpet vine, is a plant species of the genus '' Pyrostegia'' of the family

Bignoniaceae Bignoniaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales commonly known as the bignonias or trumpetvines.Vernon H. Heywood, Richard K. Brummitt, Ole Seberg, and Alastair Culham. ''Flowering Plant Families of the World''. Firefly Books: ...

originally native to southern

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 ...

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

, northeastern

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

; today, it is also a widely cultivated garden species.

Description

It is an evergreen, vigorously-growing climber, capable of reaching 5 m in height. The foliage is made up of opposite,

pinnate Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and in ...

leaves with two or three, 4 to 8 cm leaflets,, and a 3-branched

tendril In botany, a tendril is a specialized stem, leaf or petiole with a threadlike shape used by climbing plants for support and attachment, as well as cellular invasion by parasitic plants such as ''Cuscuta''. There are many plants that have tendr ...

, which all arise together from the end of the leaf petiole. The orange flowers, which appear from winter to spring, are 5 to 9 cm long and densely clustered. They are pollinated by

hummingbird Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the biological family Trochilidae. With about 361 species and 113 genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but the vast majority of the species are found in the tropics aro ...

s. The fruits are smooth, 3 cm long brown capsules.

Cultivation

The plant is sensitive to cold winds and prefers sunny, sheltered locations. Its frost hardiness

USDA zones A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most wide ...

are 9 to 11. It is resistant to soil

salinity Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensionless and equal ...

. The plant has forked tendrils, which will cling to any rough surface, including brick walls. It can be grown from semi-hardwood cuttings taken in summer, autumn or winter. It is

naturalised Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the i ...

in eastern Australia, eastern Africa and in the

southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern por ...

.Pyrostegia venusta
by Weeds of Australia - Biosecurity Queensland Edition

Taxonomic history

The species was first described by John Miers in 1863.

Etymology

''Venusta'' means 'beautiful', 'charming', or 'graceful'.Gledhill, David (2008). "The Names of Plants". Cambridge University Press. (hardback), (paperback). pp 322, 399 Pyrostegia" from the Greek ''pyros'' means 'fire', relating to the colour of the flowers and the shape of the upper lip, and ''stegia'' means 'covering'. When the flowers cover a building, it may appear to be on fire. Starr_061204-1806_Pyrostegia_venusta

References

External links

* Bignoniaceae Plants described in 1863 Vines Flora of Brazil Flora of Bolivia Flora of Paraguay Flora of Argentina Garden plants Garden plants of South America {{Bignoniaceae-stub