Sep
07
Take time to stop and smell the…grossness?
Flowers are usually associated with butterflies, but not the Dutchman’s pipe (Aristolochia grandiflora). This deciduous vine, native to Brazil, has large flowers that emit an odor of decaying flesh, which attracts flies and beetles. The insects then have to navigate the twists and turns of the flower’s throat, which is covered with hairs that trap the insects inside. It is only when an insect removes the pollen sack that the hairs collapse, releasing the insect which will likely be fooled by another pelican flower into pollinating it.
Horticulturist Janet Draper takes us deeper into the specialized love life of the Dutchman’s pipe.
Related posts:
Posted: 7 September 2010
- Categories:
Janet, YOU ROCK, and so does evolution!! You and the Ripley Garden are my favs. Thanks for letting me in on the secret of how the pollinators checks in, but he can’t check out until they’ve “done the flower’s bidding.”
Thanks, Scott! In answer to your question, the genus Aristolochia is generally known as “Dutchman’s Pipe.” This particular species is also known as pelican flower. So, while all pelican flowers are Dutchman’s pipes, not all Dutchman’s pipes are pelican flowers. Confused yet? They all stink though.
Loved the video of Janet Draper and the stinky flower. It’s long been one of my faves in the Ripley Garden ever since I stuck my face into one and breathed deeply. I should have known that anything that looked like that would not have smelled of roses. I nearly fainted from the stench!
What’s up with the name of the flower, though? Janet calls it a Dutchman’s pipe, but if you hover over the top of the video, the mouseover text refers to it as a pelican flower…