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Petrea volubilis (Queen's Wreath) - An evergreen clambering and twining vine that in Central America can grow to great heights with support (25-40 feet) but in cultivation is more often seen as an espalier subject or a smaller vine though plants growing to 20 feet have been noted in Southern California. It has long elliptic shaped leaves to 8 inches long in Hawaii but usually shorter in cultivation in California. They are dark green above and lighter below and rough to the touch like sandpaper. Several times a year (spring through early summer and again fall into winter) appear the 1-foot-long terminal raceme of flowers, somewhat resembling that of wisteria. The tubular blue flowers only last a few days but the larger and showier bluish purple calyces remain, fading first to blue and finally to a pale gray color.
Plant this beautiful vine in full sun or light shade in a well-drained soil and give regular irrigation throughout the warmer months of the year. The dark green foliage, with its gritty texture, acts as a nice foil to the pale calyces, so that the floral display appears as pale stars on a dark background. Does best when planted in near frost-free gardens, although the plant in the nursery garden survived the hard freeze of 1990, with temperatures in the high teens F and did not drop any leaves on the three nights at 25 ° F in 2007. The flowers are attractive to bees, butterflies and hummingbirds and useful in flower arrangements but cut only at the base of the raceme as the flowers wilt if part of the woody vine is left attached.
Petrea volubilis is a tropical vine native to Southern Mexico, Central America, northern South America and the Caribbean. It was named by Linnaeus to honor of the young Lord Robert James Petre (1713 - 1742) of Ingatestone Hall in Essex, a patron of botany. The specific epithet is from the Latin word 'volubil' meaning "turning", "circling" or "spinning" in reference to the twining method this vine uses to climb.
This species was first recorded as introduced to the US in 1920 by the USDA as part of their Bureau of Plant Industry introduction program as BPI. 5,325 but the prior year Petrea arborea was introduced as B.P.I 49031-1919 and these plants are now considered synonymous. Queen's Wreath is the most often used common name for this unusual vine, but it is also called Purple Wreath and Sandpaper Vine. The first names are in reference to the flowers and the later to the rough surface of the leaves.
This plant was first introduced into cultivation in California in 1940 by Evans & Reeves Nursery in West Los Angeles and we have grown this attractive vine continuously since 1995.
The information about Petrea volubilis that is displayed on this web page is based on research conducted in our nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We will also include observations made about this plant as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens that we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We also incorporate comments that we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they share cultural information that aids others growing this plant.
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