Aristolochia odoratissima L., Aristolochiaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: duck, swan

Spanish: bejuco de zaragoza, saragosa, zaragoza

Habit:  vine

Description:  "Glabrescent vines.  Pseudostipules present, ovate, to 3.5 cm long and 2.5 cm wide, usually not visible on young branchlets.  Petiole 3-6.5 cm long, glabrescent; blade ovate, often subhastate, sometimes narrowly ovate, 4-16 cm long, 3-13 cm wide, membranaceous, base cordate, sinus 1-3.7 cm deep, apex acute to shortly acuminate, sometimes obtuse or emarginate, adaxial surface glabrescent, abaxial surface appressed-puberulous, the trichomes simple, less than 1 mm long, venation actinodromous-campylodromous, basal primary veins (3) 5.  Flowers axillary, solitary, on leafy branchlets.  Peduncle plus ovary 4.5-10 cm long, ebracteolate. Perigon strongly arcuate, glabrous outside; utricle obovoid, 15-25 (-30) mm long, 5-8 mm in diameter; syrinx inaequilateral, 2.5-3.5 mm long; tube narrowly funnelform, 10-25 mm long, 2-3 mm in proximal diameter, 3-4.5 mm in distal diameter, forming an angle of ca 90 degrees with the utricle; limb 1-lobed, ovate, 40-110 mm long, 25-45 mm wide, forming an angle of ca 90 degrees with the tube, exappendiculate, apex acute, mucronate.  Gynostemium 3.5-5 mm long.  Capsule narrowly cylindrical, slightly curved, 4.5-8 cm long, 1-1.5 cm in diameter, rostrate.  Seeds broadly ovoid, 3-3.5 mm long, 2-2.5 mm wide, unwinged, with a glutinous aril"  (Gonzalez, 1994; pp. 28-29).

Habitat/ecology:  "At edges of gallery forests, secondary forests and, occasionally, in fields, from 30 to 400 m altitude" (Gonzalez, 1994; pp. 28-29).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  "Mexico, Central America, Antilles, Colombia, [Ecuador], Venezuela, Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, and Paraguay" (Gonzalez, 1994; pp. 28-29).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Colombia Colombia	Colombia (Republic of)	native	Gonzalez, Favio (1994) (p. 28)
Costa Rica Costa Rica	Costa Rica (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Ecuador (Mainland) Ecuador	Ecuador (Republic of) (continental)	native	Gonzalez, Favio (1994) (p. 28)
Guatemala Guatemala	Guatemala (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Honduras Honduras	Honduras (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	Gonzalez, Favio (1994) (p. 28)
Panama Panama	Panama (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Perú Perú	Perú (Republic of)	native	Gonzalez, Favio (1994) (p. 28)

Additional information:
Additional online information about Aristolochia odoratissima is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Aristolochia odoratissima as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Aristolochia odoratissima may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Charles Darwin Foundation. 2008. Database inventory of introduced plant species in the rural and urban zones of Galapagos. Charles Darwin Foundation, Galapagos, Ecuador.

Charles Darwin Research Station. 2005. CDRS Herbarium records.

Gonzalez, Favio. 1994. Aristolochiaceae [58.]. Flora of Ecuador 51, 51 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.