Pandorea pandorana
A woody climber with white flowers and purple markings.
Pandorea pandorana, known as the wonga wonga vine, is a flowering plant in the family Bignoniaceae native to Australia, Malesia, and the southwestern Pacific. It is a woody climber with tubular white flowers marked purple, and its wood was traditionally used for spear-making. The species is easily germinated and popular in gardens, with several named cultivars.
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Description
This glabrous woody climber or scrambler can reach 6 m or more. Leaves are opposite and pinnate; juvenile leaves are 20–80 mm long with eight to seventeen wavy-edged leaflets, while adult leaves have three to nine egg-shaped leaflets on a petiole 10–45 mm long. Flowers are pendent, tubular or funnel-shaped, white to cream with purple markings, arranged in groups up to 220 mm long. The petal tube is 10–25 mm long, bearded inside. Flowering occurs June to December, followed by oblong capsules 4–6 mm long containing many winged seeds.
Taxonomy
First formally described in 1800 by Henry Cranke Andrews as Bignonia pandorana, based on specimens grown in London from Norfolk Island seed. Cornelis Gijsbert Gerrit Jan van Steenis gave the current name in 1928. Both generic and specific names reference the Greek mythological woman Pandora. Robert Brown's name Tecoma australis was ruled invalid. Louis Édouard Bureau described Tecoma austrocaledonica in 1862, later reduced to a subspecies by Peter Shaw Green, but this is not accepted by the Australian Plant Census.
Distribution and habitat
Found across continental Australia in every state, also in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, and on Flinders Island in Bass Strait, but not mainland Tasmania. Naturalised in New Zealand in disturbed native vegetation near parks and gardens. Occurs in rainforest, dry sclerophyll forest, dry scrub, and rocky outcrops in arid regions, in clay or sand-based soils.
Uses
The highly flexible wood was the most sought-after for woomera-cast spears among Central and Western Desert peoples; short pieces could be spliced together. A group of mythological women with slender bodies was named after it. First raised in England in 1793 by Lee and Kennedy, flowering by 1805; material also went to the Château de Malmaison for Joséphine de Beauharnais. It is an evergreen, half-hardy twining plant with finely cut juvenile foliage, suitable indoors or outdoors. Pruning controls its quick growth; full sun to partial shade is preferred, with more sun said to increase flowering. Propagated by fresh seed, layering, or semi-hardwood tip cuttings. The Nursery and Garden Industry promoted it as a native alternative to Thunbergia alata. Cultivars include 'Golden Showers' (brown-tinted yellow, from near Kempsey, registered 1987), 'Ruby Belle' (red-pink with cream throat), 'Ruby Heart' (cream with deep ruby-maroon throat), and 'Snowbells' (vigorous cream-white, fragrant).
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