The Aristolochiaceae are a family, the birthwort family, of flowering plants with seven genera and about 400 known species belonging to the order Piperales. The type genus is Aristolochia L.
Aristolochia is a large plant genus with over 500 species that is the type genus of the family Aristolochiaceae. Its members are commonly known as birthwort, pipevine or Dutchman's pipe and are widespread and occur in the most diverse climates. Some species, like A. utriformis and A. westlandii, are threatened with extinction.
Dutchman's pipe is a common name for some unrelated flowering plants, which have flowers, inflorescences or stems resembling a pipe:
Marah oreganus, the Oregon manroot, coastal manroot or western wild-cucumber, is a common manroot of the northwest coast of the United States. It ranges from California north to Canada.
Aristolochia californica, the California pipevine, California Dutchman's-pipe, or California snakeroot is a perennial woody vine of western North America.
Battus philenor, the pipevine swallowtail or blue swallowtail, is a swallowtail butterfly found in North America and Central America. This butterfly is black with iridescent-blue hindwings. They are found in many different habitats, but are most commonly found in forests. Caterpillars are often black or red, and feed on compatible plants of the genus Aristolochia. They are known for sequestering acids from the plants they feed on in order to defend themselves from predators by being poisonous when consumed. The adults feed on the nectar of a variety of flowers. Some species of Aristolochia are toxic to the larvae, typically tropical varieties. While enthusiasts have led citizen efforts to conserve pipevine swallowtails in their neighborhoods on the West coast, the butterfly has not been the subject of a formal program in conservation or protected in legislation. The butterfly is however of "Special Concern" in Michigan, which is on the Northern limit of its range.
Dicentra cucullaria, Dutchman's britches, or Dutchman's breeches, is a perennial herbaceous plant, native to rich woods of eastern North America, with a disjunct population in the Columbia Basin.
Ornithoptera euphorion, the Cairns birdwing, is a species of birdwing butterfly endemic to Queensland, and is Australia's largest endemic butterfly species. Other common names include Cooktown birdwing and northern birdwing. The names Cairns and Cooktown in its common name reference the Australian cities in the region where this butterfly is found.
Aristolochia littoralis, the calico flower or مورپنکھ بیل or elegant Dutchman's pipe, is a species of evergreen vine belonging to the family Aristolochiaceae.
Marah macrocarpa, known as chilicothe, wild cucumber, manroot or bigroot is a species of plant in the genus Marah.
Aristolochia gigantea, the Brazilian Dutchman's pipe or giant pelican flower, is an ornamental plant native to Brazil. Typical of subtropical Bahia and Minas Gerais vegetation, it is a vigorous evergreen climber (vine) with heart-shaped leaves and spectacular fragrant flowers. This plant is cited in Flora Brasiliensis by Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius. A. gigantea and other tropical Dutchman's pipe varieties pose a threat to the pipevine swallowtail butterfly. The butterfly confuses A. gigantea with its native host plant and will lay eggs on it although pipevine swallowtail caterpillars cannot survive on the foliage.
Ornithoptera richmondia, the Richmond birdwing, is a species of birdwing butterfly that is endemic to Australia. It is the second smallest of the birdwing species, the smallest being Ornithoptera meridionalis.
Echinops sphaerocephalus, known by the common names glandular globe-thistle, great globe-thistle or pale globe-thistle, is a Eurasian species of globe-thistle belonging to the tribe Cardueae within the family Asteraceae.
Aristolochia grandiflora, the pelican flower, is a deciduous vine with one of the world's largest flowers that emits an odor that smells like rotting meat, attracting flies.
Hydrangea serrata is a species of flowering plant in the family Hydrangeaceae, native to mountainous regions of Korea and Japan. Common names include mountain hydrangea and tea of heaven. Growing to 1.2 m (4 ft) tall and broad, it is a deciduous shrub with oval leaves and panicles of blue and pink flowers in summer and autumn (fall). It is widely cultivated as an attractive ornamental shrub throughout the world in areas with suitable climate and soil.
Aristolochia serpentaria is a species of perennial flowering plant in the Aristolochiaceae (birthwort) family. The species is commonly known as Virginia snakeroot and is native to eastern North America, from Connecticut to southern Michigan and south to Texas and Florida.
Aristolochia chilensis, known locally as orejas de zorro, is a herbaceous perennial plant native to Chile.
Battus philenor hirsuta, the California pipevine swallowtail or hairy pipevine swallowtail, is a subspecies of the pipevine swallowtail that is endemic to Northern California in the United States. The butterfly is black with hindwings that have iridescent green-blue coloring above and a row of red spots below; the caterpillars are black with fleshy protrusions and orange spots. The subspecies' butterflies are smaller in size and hairier than the species, and they lay eggs in larger clutch sizes than the species. The egg clutches are deposited on the shoot tips of the California pipevine, a perennial vine native to riparian, chaparral, and woodland ecosystems of the California Coast Ranges, Sacramento Valley, and Sierra Nevada foothills. The larvae feed exclusively on the foliage and shoot tips of the pipevine, although adults eat floral nectar from a variety of plants. The plant contains a toxic substance, aristolochic acid. The larvae sequester the toxin, and both the juvenile and adult butterflies have high and toxic concentrations of the aristolochic acid in their tissues. Throughout the range of the species, Battus philenor, other butterflies and moths mimic the distinctive coloration of the swallowtail to avoid predators. However, there are no known mimics of the Californian subspecies.
Aristolochia watsonii is a perennial plant in the birthwort family (Aristolochiaceae), found growing among plants of the Arizona Uplands in the Sonoran Desert. The plant is inconspicuous, small and hard to spot, but can be found by following the pipevine swallowtail which lays eggs on it.
Aristolochia reticulata, the Red River snakeroot, Texas Dutchman's pipe, or Texas pipevine, is a species of perennial herb in the family Aristolochiaceae, and endemic to Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. Its habit is erect to sprawling, up to 0.4 meters in height. It flowers in summer and late spring, and summer and grows in moist, sandy soils.
