Tree birthwort
Aristolochia arborea
Birthwort family (Aristolochiaceae)
False mushroom
Animals are indispensable for this small, rare tree that grows in the Central American rainforests. Beneath the corky stem clusters of red flowers bloom. In the middle of the flower it seems to produce a mushroom. This false mushroom attracts mushroom gnats that enter the flower. The gnat is then trapped at the back of the flower for one day where it becomes covered in pollen. After a day the flower wilts and the gnat can escape. When the gnat falls for another false mushroom it deposits the pollen and so fertilises the plant.
After flowering the seeds develop with food bodies. Ants take this sweet food body, and thus the attached seed as well, back to their nest and thereby the Aristolochia becomes dispersed throughout the rainforest.
Themes
Crown jewel of Royal Burgers' Zoo and in the Botanical Garden TU Delft.
The plants are aromatic and their strong scent attracts insects. The insects get caught in the trap behind the flower and get covered with pollen.
Details
Description: | Tree, up to 5-6 m, with a corky bark. |
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Distributions: | Central america |
Habitat: | Mountain slopes. |
Hardiness: | Warmer than 59 f (heated glasshouse - tropical) |
Flower color: | Brown, red |
Notes on flowers: | The flowers usually appear at the base of the trunk with either single or paired flowers in the axils higher up; part of the flower looks like a small mushroom found in the same habitat range as this aristolochia tree, this confuses the pollinators. |