Aristolochia sempervirens
Credits
Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles
Recommended citation
'Aristolochia sempervirens' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Synonyms
- Aristolochia altissima Desf.
Editorial Note
Treated by Bean under the names Aristolochia altissima and A. sempervirens. However, as noted by Bean, in Crete and Cyprus the species exist on a continuum, and were united under the latter (earlier) name by Davies and Khan (1961).
Chiefly of botanical interest, and not very hardy, this species is not common in gardens, although one sees it occasionally cultivated in the south and west country. It has smilax-like leaves, with three or five prominent veins, heart-shaped, 2 to 4 in. long, bright green, and quite glabrous, as are also the slender, six-ribbed stems. Flowers solitary, stalks slender 1 to 11⁄2 in. long; perianth yellow-brown, striped with darker lines, 11⁄2 in. long, bladder-like at the base, the upper part somewhat funnel-shaped, but doubled back on itself, expanding at the mouth into one ovate, oblique lobe. Seed-vessel oblong, 11⁄4 in. long, 3⁄4 in. wide, minutely downy. Bot. Mag., t. 6586.
Native of S.E. Europe, and N. Africa. The typical form of A. sempervirens, found on dry hillsides in Crete, is a smaller and weaker plant than the more robust form previously treated as A. altissima. The latter has prostrate or scrambling habit and, as seen in cultivation, with a purplish perianth, and the shoots may be 8 to 10 ft high, flowering from June to August.
At Kew it has to be grown against a wall, and even there in severe winters is cut to the ground, but the scrambling form grown in the R.H.S. Garden, Wisley, Surrey, is completely hardy, and makes a useful ground cover.
