Aristolochia stahelii
Content
Description
Woody vine; stem with corky expansions, 1-3 cm in diam., 6-7 mm without bark; branchlets glabrous; pseudostipules lacking. Leaves: petiole 5-7 cm long; blade chartaceous, widely cordiform, 7-13(-18) x 10-15(-22) cm, glabrous and shining above, greyish and pubescent beneath, apex obtuse or rounded to acuminate, base slightly cordate; venation pedate, marginate at base. Inflorescence cauliflorous; racemes short (up to 1 cm long), bearing 4-5 flowers with minute scaly bracts; pedicels 2-4 cm long. Flowers: ovary about 2-3 cm long; perianth whitish pink with reddish veins outside, glabrous; utricle ovoid, 3 x 1.5 cm; tube reduced and hidden by the limb; limb red purple, not spreading, but at first reflexed backwards to the utricle and apically coming forward, finally recurved outwards and forming a horse-shoe-shaped cavity around the mouth of the tube, apex acute, reflexed backward. Fruit 8-10 cm long, glabrous, midrib of carpels thickened, external wall thick, woody; seeds triangular, 6 x 3 mm, funicle longitudinally protruding.