Aristolochiaceae - Birthwort Family, Brown and Drab Arizona Flowers, Brown and Drab Flowers, Butterfly Flowers and Plants, Conspicuous Fruit or Cones, Desert Plants, Fall Blooming Plants, Herbs and Forbs, Native Wildflowers and Plants, Perennials, Poisonous Plants, Riparian and Wetland Plants, Spring Blooming Plants, Summer Blooming Plants, Upland Plants, Vines

Aristolochia watsonii – Watson's Dutchman's Pipe

Aristolochia watsonii - Watson's Dutchman's Pipe, Southwestern Pipevine (flower)

Aristolochia watsonii - Watson's Dutchman's Pipe, Southwestern Pipevine (flower bud and leaf)

Aristolochia watsonii - Watson's Dutchman's Pipe, Southwestern Pipevine (fruit)

Aristolochia watsonii - Watson's Dutchman's Pipe, Southwestern Pipevine (green fruit)

Plant Name

Scientific Name: Aristolochia watsonii

Common Names: Watson's Dutchman's Pipe, Southwestern Pipevine

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial

Growth Habit: Vine, Herb/Forb

Arizona Native Status: Native

Habitat: Desert, Upland, Riparian

Flower Color: Green and dark brown

Flowering Season: Spring (late), Summer, Fall (early)

Height: Trailing to 3 feet (91 cm) long

Description: The flowers are tubular, 1 1/4 inches (3.2 cm) long, recurved, and have an elongated brown mouth and a green, hairy throat with brown spots. The leaves are long, narrow, arrow-shaped, and green to brownish in color. The fruit is plump, green, and ribbed.

Special Characteristics

Butterfly Plant – It is the food plant for Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) caterpillars. These caterpillars will eat both the leaves and the fruit.

Poisonous – These plants are poisonous and contain the toxic aristolochic acid.

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 watsonii Woot. & Standl. – Watson's dutchman's pipe

More About This Plant

Arizona County Distribution Map
Watson's Dutchman's Pipe (Aristolochia watsonii) – The Firefly Forest