Elegant Dutchman's Pipe

Overview

Originated from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Paraguay. This plant is usually used as an ornamental vine with attractive flowers of large size and very unique color, purplish and speckled petals. Extracts of this plant are also sometimes added to herbal supplements, as they are believed to have medicinal properties.

Vernacular Names

Flor de pato, Patico (Cuban).

Agroecology

Aristolochia littoralis prefers sandy to loamy soils in acid-neutral soil pH of 5.5 - 7.0 and average humidity, full sun to partial shade, at an altitude of about 10 - 1,150 m asl. The average temperature is 7 - 34 °C, and rainfall is 1,000 - 2,500 mm per year.

Morphology

• Roots - tap roots.
• Stems - slender and woody, up to 3 cm in diameter, old bark is dark brown showing certain layers in cross section.
• Leaves - smooth, hairless, heart-shaped, bean-shaped or ovoid with flat leaf margins (10 cm long, 12 cm wide). Occured in alternating leaf arrangements (single on alternating sides of the stem). Crushed leaves produce an unpleasant odor.
• Flowers - tubular, purple/dark red with white zigzag stripes and appear singly in leaf axils. Sessile anthers, 6 stamens, fused to form a structure about 6 x 5 mm around the style, style length about 7-8 mm;  6-locular ovary;  many ovules at each locul. Flowers produce a smell like rotting flesh to attract pollinating flies.
• Fruits - capsule, cylindrical, 4.5 cm long and 2.5 cm in diameter. Pedicel with a length of about 5 cm split longitudinally into 6 strong wires like thread. The fruit opens from the base into 6 boat-shaped valves, each containing many seeds arranged transversely at each locus.
• Seeds - flattened, heart-shaped, about 5-6 x 4-5 mm, winged narrow all around, wingspan less than 1 mm. The embryo is about 0.4-0.5 mm long.

Cultivation

Propagated by seeds and stem cuttings.

Chemical Constituents

Alkaloids, lignans, neolignans, monoterpenoids, diterpenoids, sesquiterpenoids, tetralones, isoquinolines, porphyrins, biphenyl ethers, aristolactolactam, and aristolochic acid dimers.

Traditional Medicinal Uses

• Medicinal properties of the roots are used to treat snakebites, treatment of pain and incidence of infection during childbirth.  
• Has antimicrobial activity, antitumor, antidiarrheal, antipyretic, emmenagic agent, antivenom, and for the treatment of scorpion poisoning.