Dutchman's Pipe
Aristolochia macrophylla
Overlapping heart-shaped leaves the size of dinner plates make the fastest, densest screen of any native vine — this was the classic porch cover of the nineteenth century. The curious pipe-shaped flowers hide under the foliage, briefly trapping small flies to pollinate. It is the sole larval host for pipevine swallowtails across much of its range. All parts contain aristolochic acid and should be treated as poisonous.
- Family
- Aristolochiaceae
- Type
- vine
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 15–30 ft
- Spacing
- 15–20 ft apart
- Light
- part shade
- Soil moisture
- moist
- Soil pH
- neutral
- Bloom
- May, June
- Bloom colors
- green, purple, brown
- Wildlife value
- butterflies, larval host
- Landscape uses
- hedge or screen
- Native states
- AL, GA, KY, MD, NC, PA, SC, TN, VA, WV