Singapore Botanic Gardens

[Cecil Lee]

Aristolochia gigantea
Aristolochiaceae
Giant Dutchman’s Pipe

A robust vine from Brazil, the Giant Dutchman’s Pipe is so called due to the unopened flower’s resemblance to an old-fashioned smoking pipe.

When in bloom, the large showy flowers (20cm wide) emit an odour which attract insects such as flies for pollination. Stiff downward-pointing hairs inside the flower prevent visiting insects from leaving, which deposit pollen on the stigma situated deep in the floral (perianth) tube. The insects escape when the hairs are relaxed as the pollen are released.

Flower of Aristolochia gigantea,
showing numerous stiff hairs for
trapping pollinators
Photos: Edmund Chia, Lai Simin