Stigmaphyllon littorale (Orchid Vine) - Quick growing, large evergreen vine with broad ovate light green colored tomentose leaves that is covered intermittently with clusters of bright, airy, yellow flowers in the summer.
Plant in full sun to part shade with regular irrigation. It is to most frost hardy of the Orchid Vines and we have had it sail through cold nights down to 25° F in our garden with others reporting it hardy to USDA zone 8b – down to 10° F. A large vine that can cover a fence or grow up into a tree. It is somewhat similar to more delicate Stigmaphyllon ciliatum, but with larger flower clusters and larger tomentose leaves that lack ciliate margins.
Stigmaphyllon littorale is found growing along the Rio Parana, Rio Uruguay and Rio Paragua and along Brazilian coastal areas.
The genus name comes from the Latin words 'stigma' for the receptive apex of the pistil of a flower and 'phyla', meaning "leaf" for the leaf-like stigma in the genus. This plant is listed as a synonym of Stigmaphyllon bonariense in The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew database. This name change is based on the previous description of the species as Banisteria bonariensis by British botanist William Hooker and Scottish botanist George A. Walker-Arnott, whose date of publication of 1832 in Hooker's Botanical Miscellany, which was produced in parts from 1829 through 1833, was misinterpreted and should have taken precedence over the French botanist Adrien-Henri de Jussieu's description in Flora Brasiliae Meridionalis in 1833. We have retained the original name that we grew this plant under so not to confuse our customers or our staff.
We first started growing this plant in 2002 and grow the related Mascagnia macroptera which we received as a species of Stigmaphyllon, though it turns out that this plant's valid name is now Callaeum macropterum and we also continue to grow Stigmaphyllon ciliatum. These three plants seem confused in the nursery trade, so we have a comparison image showing these three plants together on our Mascagnia and Stigmaphyllon Comparison Page.
The information about Stigmaphyllon littorale displayed on this web page is based on our research conducted in the nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also include observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share cultural information that would aid others in growing this plant. |