Dutchman's pipe Facts
Dutchman's pipe Facts
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| Interesting Dutchman's pipe Facts: |
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| Dutchman's pipe has slender stem that can reach 25 to 30 feet in height. It grows in height by tightly coiling the stem around all available structures. |
| Young plants are green-colored and have smooth stem. Old plants can be recognized by brown, woody, corky and furrowed stem. |
| Dutchman's pipe produces broad, triangular, ovate, cordate or kidney-shaped leaves that are alternately arranged on the stem. Leaves are hairless, green on the upper surface and bluish-green on the bottom side. |
| Dutchman's pipe produces tubular, S-shaped flowers that grow from the axils of leaves. Flowers of most species are creamy colored and covered with purple markings with wide, heart-shaped opening. Inner part of the flower is yellow colored and covered with purple dots. Flowers contain both types of reproductive organs. |
| Dutchman's pipe blooms from April to June. Flowers emit unpleasant odor, which attracts flies and beetles, main pollinators of these plants. |
| Flowers of Dutchman's pipe are covered with hairs from the inside. Hairs keep insects trapped inside until they become covered with pollen completely (they act like fly-trap). |
| Fruit of Dutchman's pipe is fleshy capsule filled with around 350 tear-shaped seed. Ripe fruit is brown colored and has papery texture. It splits in 6 parts to release seed. |
| Dutchman's pipe propagates via seed. |
| Name "Dutchman's pipe" refers to unusual shape of the flowers, which look like Dutch smoking pipes. |
| Dutchman's pipe is known as birthwort due to birth canal-shaped flowers. Also, Dutchman pipe was frequently used to facilitate elimination of placenta after childbirth in the past. |
| Dutchman's pipe is not popular as herbal remedy today, due to high content of aristolochic acid, compound with carcinogenic (it can induce cancer) properties. |
| Some species of Dutchman's pipe are used as reptile repellents and in treatment of snake bites. |
| Birthwing vine is basic source of food for Richmond birtwing butterfly in Australia. In areas overgrown with Dutchman's pipe, female butterflies lay eggs on the leaves of this plant and induce massive poisoning of their offspring (unlike birthwing vine, Dutchman's pipe is highly poisonous). |
| Dutchman's pipe is often planted on the porches, fences and walls (in decorative purposes). |
| Dutchman's pipe is perennial plant (lifespan: more than 2 years). |
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