Aristolochia gigantea
I took this picture of Aristolochia gigantea at night. It's climbing up the chinaberry tree and rambling through the Xanthosoma esculenta (Elephant Ear) area. At around 8" long, the flower is like Aristolochia elegans (Dutchman's Pipe) on steroids. It's a major food source for the larvae of the swallowtail butterfly, so I don't often find flowers that are intact. It always reminded me of grandma's calico dress. The velvety black interior and the bright yellow center are just gorgeous.
Labels: plants
posted by Elizabeth at 9:52 PM
2 Comments:
Very beautiful. So is the swallowtail butterfly.
It's great to see these pictures and read your descriptions.
Keep 'em coming please.
Thanks, Colin. I'm having computer problems or I would post more. The caterpillars sometimes eat every leaf and flower on the aristolochias, but they always come back. I try to plant food sources for the caterpillars and nectar plants for the butterflies. They're all host specific.
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