California Pipe Vine
Aristolochia californica

[a-ris-toh-LOH-kee-uh  kal-ih-FOR-nik-uh]

FAMILY: Aristolochiacea (Pipevine)

DESCRIPTION: {native} Deciduous vine with distinctive flowers.

HABITAT: We found these on a shady slope above Lake Clementine dam in a California Bay tree.

NOTES: Our first glimpse of this unique plant was a delightful surprise while we were looking at other plants more common for our area. Even though you might think these flowers feed on insects (think pitcher plants), they don't. They are pollinated by fungus gnats, and are the only food source for the larvae of the pipevine swallowtail butterfly.