Flora of North America species comparison

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Aristolochia californica

California Dutchman's pipe, California pipevine, California snakeroot
Habit Lianas, twining, to 5 m, woody.
Young stem

ribbed, tomentose.
Leaves

blade ovate to reniform, 4-12 × 3-10 cm, base cordate, sinus depth 2-6 cm, apex obtuse to rounded;

surfaces abaxially tomentose;

venation palmate-pinnate.
Inflorescences

on new growth, axillary, solitary flowers;

peduncle bracteolate, 1-4 cm;

bracteoles reniform, to 8 mm.
Flowers

calyx brown-purple, bent;

utricle pendent, ellipsoid to narrowly ellipsoid, 0.5-5 × 1-1.5 cm;

syrinx absent;

tube bent, cylindric, 1-3 × 1-1.7 cm;

annulus absent;

limb purplish, 3-lobed, lobes 2 × 2 cm, glabrous;

gynostemium 3-lobed, cylindric, 5-10 mm;

anthers 6;

ovary 6-locular, 1-4 cm.
Capsule

ovoid to cylindric, 5-6 × 1-3 cm, dehiscence basipetal;

valves 6;

septa entire, not attached to valves.
Seeds

flat, triangular, 1-1.2 × 1 cm.
2n

= 28, 32.

Aristolochia californica
Phenology Flowering spring.
Habitat Along streams, in forest thickets, chaparral
Elevation 50-700(-1000) m (200-2300(-3300) ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
Discussion

The leaves of Aristolochia californica are eaten by larvae of the western swallowtail butterfly, Battus philenor hirsuta (Skinner) (W. H. Howe 1975).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 3.
Parent taxa Aristolochiaceae > Aristolochia
Sibling taxa
A. clematitis, A. coryi, A. erecta, A. macrophylla, A. maxima, A. pentandra, A. reticulata, A. serpentaria, A. tomentosa, A. watsonii, A. wrightii
Name authority Torrey: Pacif. Railr. Rep. 4(5): 128. (1857)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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