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Aristolochia watsonii |
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| | Holding its own after a few years of duking it out with ice plant and various other rock garden denizens |
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| | Rambling across a mat of delosperma |
| Common name |
Watson's pipevine |
| Family |
aristolochiaceae |
| Life cycle |
perennial (Z8)   |
| Flowers |
green/brown |
| Size |
12" |
| Light |
sun-part shade |
| Cultural notes |
well drained soil, heat and drought tolerant |
Low-growing pipevine species with dark purple, narrowly arrow-shaped leaves. The vines can grow up to 3 ft long, but tend to grow to form a mat rather than twine upward. Native to the U.S. Southwest, it is host to the pipevine swallowtail caterpillars, who have developed immunity to the plant's toxins. Curiously shaped flowers are pollinated by small flies, which explains why they smell musty rather than sweet. We bought a pot of this plant which turned out to have many plantlets, so we put it in a few places. The only place it survived is our rock garden, where it seems happy but not overly vigorous. It has taken to sending its trailing stems across other low-growing inhabitants of the area, most notably an ice plant with which it contrasts nicely.
For the first few years, there was no sign of any caterpillars, and I frankly wasn't surprised – if I were a butterfly I might look for a pipevine with more substantial leaves to feed my babies! But sure enough, one early-October day, I spotted a nice big caterpillar (on my smallest plant, no less). Ma Nature surprised me once again. Likewise, it took me a few years to spot my first flower (likely because it's not so different from the leaves when observed from some distance), although I'd noticed the seedpods, shaped like little hanging lanterns, on several earlier occasions.
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| | Flowers are not conspicuous, but quite interesting up close |
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| | Seedpods spotted in early September |
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| | A pipevine swallowtail caterpillar at last, early October 2021 |
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In our garden, this plant grows in the following areas: Houston rock garden, rock garden zone About my plant portraits
PlantLinks to other web pages about Aristolochia watsonii
Visitors to this page have left the following comments| Jim Baughman | Jun 13, 2021 | Hi, I'm looking for a place that sells Watson's pipevine plants or seeds. They are host to the pipevine swallowtail...I remember the plants from my youth in Arizona. Do you sell them or know who might?
I haven't yet managed to collect seeds, and don't know of any mail-order source for plants or seeds (I got mine locally). Good luck finding some. |
| Steve | Apr 03, 2022 | I've got seeds of A. Watsonii that I would be happy to give you Jim. |
| Jim Baughman | Apr 22, 2022 | Yes, Steve, I would love to have some seeds. I can trade you some bristlecone pine seeds for them. Email me at jfdire@sbcglobal.net please. |
| Bill L. | Apr 22, 2022 | I'm in Phoenix, Az and the plant has eggs about every three years. A Pipevine Swallowtail will lay eggs, and caterpillars will develop. Haven't had a lot of success otherwise, since I have a single plant and it's not enough to sustain the number of caterpillars that develop.
Looking for a source for plants so I can expand their options. |
| Mark | Apr 25, 2022 | Hey, Steve! If you still have seeds, I have other Aristolochi seeds (and plants) to trade. Just let me know. |
| Steve | May 22, 2022 | Hi Mark,
Sure. If you post your email address I'll contact you about getting some Aristolochia Watsonnii seeds out to you. |
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Last modified:
May 04, 2022
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