Aristolochia watsonii
A desert vine that lures flies with rodent-ear-shaped flowers.
Aristolochia watsonii, also known as Watson's Dutchman's pipe, is a perennial vine in the birthwort family native to the Arizona Uplands of the Sonoran Desert. It is notable for being the host plant of the pipevine swallowtail butterfly, which lays its eggs on the plant and derives distasteful toxins from it.
Quick Facts
- Species
- watsonii
Facts from the source article.
Did You Know?
- Native Americans believed it could treat snakebites, giving it the common names Indian root or snakeroot.
- It is found in some nurseries featuring native plants for butterfly gardens.
Description
This plant grows as a vine with scrambling stems that form a dense, tangled mat over time when on open ground. One source reports stems 6 to 18 inches long with greenish-brown arrowhead-shaped leaves measuring 1/4 to 2.5 inches; another source states stems can reach 3 feet, in mats 1 to 2 feet wide. It is cold-deciduous, dropping leaves in fall and winter, and loses stems as well as leaves during a freeze. Under full sun and drought, leaves change from green to purple-brown.
The flowers are bizarre-looking, musky-smelling, and resemble a rodent's ear; they are green or burgundy-brown outside, with green speckled burgundy-brown inside and hairs on the rim. Each flower lasts 1 to 2 days. Fruits are capsules with five vertical ribs, each compartment containing triangular, flat, black seeds. The flower's shape and odor attract small blood-sucking flies, which become trapped for a day before escaping to pollinate another plant. The pipevine swallowtail caterpillar may consume all leaves, which then regrow. All parts are toxic to humans.
More in Plants Used in Traditional Native American Medicine
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced