Aristolochia Elegans

[Arbab]

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[Muhammad Arif Khan]

Why does this vine hide its flowers? They are not ugly enough to be ashamed of.

[Arbab]

Either they r shy or they r frighten :p

[UMARKHANMARDAN]

Shy or frighten but Calico is fantastic! very nice sharing Arbab.

[Arbab]

Thank u Umar khan for gifting me such a exotic n unique climber

[M Farooq]

Why does this vine hide its flowers? They are not ugly enough to be ashamed of.

I think this has something to do with pollination mechanism to hide the flowers from sunlight and serve as fly traps. The newly blossomed flowers are said to trap flies for the whole day and release them when the anthers burst inside the flower, showering the flies with the pollen grain. The flies lay their eggs while being trapped and the when the flowers drop the larvae feed on the dead flower- it is a sort of equal and mutual beneficiary relationship...although the fly suffers for a while. Quite rare to see same symbiotic relationship in the human world ... :-(

[Arbab]

Means dead flowers should b sprayed wit anti mosquito spray to keep flies population in control

[Izhar]

What a novelty to have in your garden.. great growing..

[aykhan]

Very nice. I agree most Aristolochia flowers are ugly BUT I MUST say they ARE unique. I am trying out two vines the A. grandiflora and A. gigantea. They are quite vigorous and currently going wild!
It's right. I saw in some program that flies enter the flower and it closes behind them. The fly has to travel all the way inside and once it pollinates the other end opens up to let the fly out! If this is not reason enough to have atleast one of these vines then what is???

[Arbab]

I am also trying A.gigantea lets c how it behaves in our climate