Pipevine - Aristolochia tomentosa

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Pipevine.

Pipevine is a vigorous, climbing woody vine without tendrils. It has pipe shaped flowers and large, heart-shaped leaves. The flowers are about 3 cm long and curved, kind of like a pipe. It blooms from May to June. The fruit of the plant has a diameter of about 3 cm. It tends to like somewhat shady to sunny areas. It is native to most of the southeastern U.S. and grows best in full sun or partial shade and will need a trellis or arbor to grow on. It can grow to be as tall as 20-75 feet!

Pipevine is a Host Plant for the Pipevine Swallowtail

Pipevine Swallowtails (Battus philenor) use Pipevine as a host plant. The butterfly Battus polydamas, whose range includes most of the south eastern US also uses some species of Aristolochia as a host plant.

Pipevine is poisonous, but Pipevine Swallowtails are immune, making them undesirable to predators. Both Aristolochia durior and Aristolochia tomentosa are used by the butterfly. Aristolochia elegans is however poisonous to them, the adults might lay eggs on it but the caterpillars will die.

Where to buy Pipevine

The only place I know of at the moment that sells Aristolochia tomentosa is Missouri Wildflowers in Jefferson City, MO., although I am sure that many other places sell it also. Most likely it would easier to find at a place that specializes in native plants rather than a general nursery. Nature Hills Nursery used to sell it also (or actually sold Aristolochia durior - which is also used by (Battus philenor)) but they seem to be out at the moment.

Growing Tips

One spring I had some animal bite off all the stems right above where it was growing out of the ground. The plant did recover though. I now keep a barrier around it.

The stems start out green but eventually grow into a woody vine. Each spring the plant starts growing again from the hard woody parts that are up on the trellis, fence or whatever you are growing it on, rather than from new growth coming from the ground. So don't cut down those woody parts from the trellis in the fall or winter - they may look dead but they are not.

Be careful moving this plant also. I had one of mine growing first in a pot and transplanted it into the ground the following spring after it started growing again. I very carefully unwound the vines from the trellis it was on and wrapped them around the new one, but every stem/vine of the plant wilted and died - although the plant did recover.

Current status of this plant in my garden

I have 3 of these, two are not growing in the best of places though. The one that is doing best I need to get a picture of to put on this site. I forget how many years I've had it now, but it has not yet bloomed. Likely because of a couple of things. 1)At first I was growing the one in the better location in a pot, and then transplanted it in the ground the second year I had it. 2)Then last spring, all three of mine got their main stems bitten off by some animal, maybe a rabbit. All of the vine that had been growing on the trellis died away, but the plant did recover and start growing again. I suspect it may have bloomed last year if this had not happened. I put a barrier around it to keep critters out. So far this year (2006), it is growing well and looks very healthy. I have not yet had any Pipevine Swallowtail lay eggs on them either, although I do see them flying around the garden now and then.

The Aristolochia Family

Usually herbs or woody vines with heart shaped flowers. Ten genera and 600 or so species in both temperate and tropical zones.

Classification

Kingdom: Plantae - Plants

Subkingdom: Tracheobionta - Vascular plants

Superdivision: Spermatophyta - Seed plants

Division: Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants

Class: Magnoliopsida - Dicotyledons

Subclass: Magnoliidae

Order: Aristolochiales

Family: Aristolochiaceae - Birthwort family

Genus: Aristolochia L. - dutchman's pipe

Species: Aristolochia tomentosa Sims - pipevine or woolly dutchman's pipe

Additional Pictures

Pipevine picture.

Additional Information

More information about Aristolochia tomentosa can be found at the USDA site.