Quick Facts

Quick facts

• There are five non-native Aristolochia species currently recorded as naturalised – Dutchman's Pipe (A. elegans), Pelican Flower (A. grandiflora), Indian Birthwort (A. indica), Fragrant Dutchman's Pipe (A. odoratissima) and Gaping Dutchman's Pipe (A. ringens).
• They are all perennial vines with distinctive curved tubular flowers, often oddly coloured and patterned.
• Dutchman's Pipe is the most widespread of the naturalised Aristolochia species in Australia, occurring from Cairns south to Burleigh Heads, Queensland, with scattered records in New South Wales.
• Dutchman's Pipe can invade areas of remnant bushland where it forms dense masses which out compete native species for habitat resources.
• Dutchman's Pipe is a contributing factor in the decline of the Richmond Birdwing Butterfly (Ornithoptera richmondia) in south-east Queensland.

What Does It Look Like?

What is it?

Aristolochia are perennial vines with distinctive oddly curved tubular flowers, often oddly coloured and patterned (Jordan 2007). In Australia, five non-native species of Aristolochia (Aristolochia spp.) are currently recorded as naturalised – Dutchman's Pipe (Aristolochia elegans), Pelican Flower (A. grandiflora), Indian Birthwort (A. indica), Fragrant Dutchman's Pipe (A. odoratissima) and Gaping Dutchman's Pipe (A. ringens).

Dutchman's Pipe (A. elegans) is the most widespread of the naturalised Aristolochia species in Australia. It is a fast growing vine with slender stems that twine around any supporting structure and can reach 10 m in length. The older stems become woody and covered with a corky bark. The stems and leaves exude a nauseous odour when cut or crushed. The thin-textured leaves are heart-shaped in outline with a rounded tip, measuring 2 to 11 cm long by 2 to 12 cm wide and arranged alternately along the branchlets. The upper leaf surface is dull to shiny, blue-green to dark green while the lower leaf surface has a pale grey-green waxy lustre. The distinctive Dutchman's-pipe-shaped flowers are borne singly on pendulous stalks that measure up to 13 cm long and arise from the junction of the leaf stalk and the stem. The flower is made up of a pale yellow-green curved tube, inflated at the base and expanded at the other end into a circular saucer-shaped lobe. The lobe is about 8 cm across and cream with purple-brown blotches and mottles. The papery fruits are longitudinally ribbed, cylindrical capsules that measure 2 to 6 cm long by 1 to 2 cm wide and contain around 350 seeds. The mature capsules when open resemble an inverted parachute and remain attached on the vine for some time after opening. The seeds are brown, flat, heart- to tear-shaped, about 6 mm long and have a marginal wing (Kleinschmidt & Johnson 1977; Jones & Gray 1988; McClymont 1998; Land Protection 2007; Ross & Halford 2007).

Pelican Flower (A. grandiflora) has leaves that are heart-shaped in outline with a pointed to drawn out tip and measure 6 to 20 cm long by 6 to 16 cm wide. The upper leaf surface is more or less hairless while the lower leaf surface is hairy with very small hairs. The flower is made up of a curved tube, inflated at the base and expanded at the other end into a circular saucer-shaped lobe with a long tape-like appendage on the lower margin. The lobe is 20 to 50 cm across and variously blotched with purple, white, yellow, red and green. The flowers produce a strong and unpleasant odour when open. The seeds are brown, flat, tear-shaped and are 10 to 14 mm long (Pfeifer 1966; Gonzalez 1994; Meerman 2004).

Indian Birthwort (A. indica) has leaves that are oblong to egg-shaped in outline with an abruptly drawn out tip and are 3 to 12 cm long by 1.5 to 7 cm wide. The flowers are grouped together into clusters of 3 to 8. Each cluster is borne on a short stalk arising from the junction of the leaf stalk and the stem. Each flower is on a stalk 0.5 to 1.5 mm long. The flower is made up of a cream coloured curved tube, inflated at the base and expanded at the other end into an oblong lobe. The lobe is 1.5 cm long and brownish purple in colour. The seeds are brown, flat, heart-shaped, about 6 mm long and have a marginal wing (Heart et al. 1999; Ross & Halford 2007; Queensland Herbarium 2008).

Fragrant Dutchman's Pipe (A. odoratissima) has leaves that are broadly triangular to egg-shaped in outline with a rounded to drawn out tip and measure 6 to 14 cm long by 6 to 10 cm wide. The upper leaf surface is hairless, glossy and yellow-green, while the lower leaf surface is sparsely hairy and pale white-green in colour. The flower is made up of a creamy-yellow curved tube, inflated at the base and expanded at the other end into an ovate lobe. The lobe is 4 to 11 cm long by 2.5 to 4.5 cm across and cream with dark purple spots. The seeds are brown, flat, tear-shaped and about 3 mm long (Gonzalez 1994; Ross & Halford 2007; Queensland Herbarium 2008).

Gaping Dutchman's Pipe (A. ringens) is vegetatively similar to Dutchman's Pipe (A. elegans). However, the flower is made up of a mottled maroon and cream tube, inflated at the base and expanded at the other end into two lance-shaped to spoon-shaped lobes. The lobes measure up to 10 cm long by 3 cm wide and are mottled maroon and cream in colour. The seeds brown, flat, tear-shaped, about 12 mm long and have a marginal wing (Ross & Halford 2007; Queensland Herbarium 2008).

For further information and assistance with identification of Aristolochia species, contact the herbarium in your state or territory.

Flower colour

Multi-coloured

Growth form (weed type/habit)

Vine

Where it currently grows? Preferred habitat

Dutchman's Pipe grows around the edges and in disturbed gaps of rainforest communities and in open forest communities especially along creeks or in moist gullies. It typically grows in protected situations with high humidity, in full to medium light and in a variety of soil types (McClymont 1998; Queensland Herbarium 2008).

Pelican Flower is recorded growing in Eucalyptus open woodland community in sandy clay soil along a creekline (Western Australian Herbarium 2008).

Indian Birthwort is recorded growing in coastal vine thicket (Ross & Halford 2007).

In Central America, Fragrant Dutchman's Pipe is recorded growing on the edges of gallery forests and regrowth forests, and occasionally in fields, from 30 to 400 m altitude (Gonzalez 1994).

Gaping Dutchman's Pipe is recorded growing in disturbed habitat on roadside and vacant urban land (Queensland Herbarium 2008).

Are there similar species?

The flowers of Dutchman's Pipe, Pelican Flower, Fragrant Dutchman's Pipe and Gaping Dutchman's Pipe are much larger than the Australian native Aristolochiaceae and are unlikely to be confused. The Indian Birthwort is similar to the native species A. acuminata and A. chalmersii in having small flowers that are grouped together into clusters borne on a short stalk arising from the junction of the leaf stalk and the stem. Aristolochia acuminata and A. chalmersii differ in having deeply lobed leaf bases (Ross & Halford 2007).

Why Is It A Weed?

What are its impacts?

Agriculture: It is suspected that Dutchman's Pipe is poisonous to cattle, horses and domestic fowl (Kleinschmidt & Johnson 1977).

Native ecosystems: Rapid growth and prolific seeding gives Dutchman's Pipe the potential to significantly impact on biodiversity in areas of native vegetation. It can invade areas of remnant bushland where it forms dense masses which out compete native species, thereby degrading the structure of the ecosystem and reducing biodiversity (McClymont 1998).

Native fauna: The non-native Aristolochia species are very similar to the native Aristolochiaceae which are the natural food plants for the larvae of a number of Australian Birdwing Butterflies (Ornithoptera richmondia Richmond Birdwing and Ornithoptera euphorion Cairns Birdwing). However the non-native Aristolochia species are a deadly alternative as they are toxic to the larvae when they feed. The survival of the Richmond Birdwing Butterfly is threatened by the spread of these plants within its distributional range (Sands & New 2002; Land Protection 2007).

How does it spread?

All five species of Aristolochia have flat, light weight seeds. The seeds of Dutchman's Pipe, Indian Birthwort and Gaping Dutchman's Pipe have a papery thin marginal wing to them. The seeds of Dutchman's Pipe are reportedly easily transported by air movement and water (McClymont 1988). No information is available for the other species.

What is its history in Australia?

Dutchman's Pipe was listed for seed exchange and distribution in 1895 from the Brisbane Botanic Gardens (MacMahon 1895). The first herbarium record of Dutchman's Pipe having naturalised was collected in 1932 near Brisbane (Queensland Herbarium 2008).

Pelican Flower is known only from a single record in Australia. It was reportedly naturalised in Roleystone (suburb of Perth) Western Australia in 2000 (Western Australian Herbarium 2008).

Fragrant Dutchman's Pipe is known only from a single record collected just north of Cairns in 1994 (Queensland Herbarium 2008).

Gaping Dutchman's Pipe is known only from two records in Australia. It was first recorded just north of Cairns in 1997. It was more recently recorded growing in a yard at Aurukun, Cape York Peninsula, Queensland in 2000 (Queensland Herbarium 2008).

How To Manage It?

Best practice management

In Queensland, Aristolochia (Aristolochia species other than native species) are declared plants under the Land Protection (Pest and Stock Route Management) Act 2002, which prohibits the supply or sale of these plants and may require their removal from environmentally significant areas within the state (Jordan 2007).

Non-chemical control: Physical control: Small plants can be controlled by removing above ground parts and digging up the root base, ensuring crowns (where stem and roots join) and roots are removed. However, care needs to be taken as the plants are poisonous and all parts of the plant should not be handled without gloves (McClymont 1998; Save Our Waterways Now 2008). Mechanical control: Larger vines that extend up into the canopy can be difficult to dig out without causing a lot of disturbance to adjacent native seedlings. An alternative method is to cut through vine stems at chest height and leave them to die in the canopy. This is done preferably before the vine has set seed. Any fruit within reach should be collected and removed from the site. The basal section of stem is cut and scraped back towards the main root and then an appropriate herbicide is applied to the scraped stem section. This increases the surface area of exposed plant vascular tissue available for absorption of the applied herbicide (McClymont 1998).

Chemical control: Foliar spraying is usually ineffective against large vines because leaves are covered by a waxy cuticle that prevents herbicide penetration. However, young plants and regrowth shoots are more susceptible to herbicide application (McClymont 1998).

Please see the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority for chemical information http://www.apvma.gov.au 

Does it have a biological control agent?

NO

When does it grow? (lifecycle/growth calendar)

Non-native Aristolochia that have become naturalised in Australia are all robust perennial vines (McClymont 1998).

The most common species Dutchman's Pipe Stems is known to root at each stem node where stems are in contact with the ground (McClymont 1998). In Australia, it flowers from November to May and produces fruits from December to June (Ross & Halford 2007). It produces numerous seeds per capsule which are released once mature. Seed may remain viable in the soil for up to three years (Thomas 2003). The seeds germinate readily and the seedlings are fast growing (Jones & Gray 1988).

In Australia, Fragrant Dutchman's Pipe has been recorded flowering from January to February and with fruit in March, while Indian Birthwort has been recorded flowering in November and March and with fruit in May (Ross & Halford 2007). Pelican Flower has been recorded flowering in May.Gaping Dutchman's Pipe has been recorded as flowering in May and June and with fruit in November (Western Australian Herbarium 2008).

Where Is It Found?

Which states and territories is it found?

NSW, NT, QLD, WA

What areas within states and territories is it found?

Dutchman's Pipe in commonly naturalised east of the Great Dividing Range, from Cairns south to Burleigh Heads, Queensland, with scattered records in northern New South Wales as far south as Copmanhurst (northwest of Grafton) (Harden et al. 2007; Ross & Halford 2007).

Pelican Flower is recorded from one site in the Perth suburb, Roleystone (Western Australian Herbarium 2008).

Indian Birthwort is recorded on Channel Island near Darwin, Northern Territory (Ross & Halford 2007).

Fragrant Dutchman's Pipe is recorded from one site in the northern suburbs of Cairns (Queensland Herbarium 2008).

Gaping Dutchman's Pipe is recorded in two sites in northern Queensland (Aurukun, and in northern suburbs of Cairns (Queensland Herbarium 2008).

Where does it originate?

Dutchman's Pipe is a native of South America. Pelican Flower is native to southern North America and northern South America from Mexico to Panama. Indian Birthwort is native to the Indian Subcontinent. Fragrant Dutchman's Pipe is native of southern North America and South America from (Mexico to Argentina). Gaping Dutchman's Pipe is native of South America (Venezuela, Brazil, and Peru) (GRIN 2008).

National And State Weed Listings

Is it a Weed of National Significance (WONS)?

NO

Where is it a declared weed?

QLD, WA

Government weed strategies and lists – Weeds Australia

Is it on the National Alert List for Environmental Weeds?

NO

Government weed strategies and lists – Weeds Australia

Is it on the Agricultural Sleeper List?

NO

Government weed strategies and lists – Weeds Australia

Names And Taxonomy

Main scientific name

Aristolochia spp. (other than native species)

Other scientific names (synonyms)?

Does it have other known common name(s)?

Dutchman's Pipe, Birthwort, Calico Flower, Pelican Flower