Albert's Greenhouse

I met another plant nut from my neighborhood who was looking for information on Aristolochia hardiness - information I didn't happen to have much of, except that I've killed Aristolochia grandiflora on a regular basis outdoors in my courtyard.

Anyway, he had grown Aristolochia gigantea and had some flowers, so I went over to his place the other day to dissect a flower and take some photos.

Aristolochia employs an interesting pollenation strategy. Similar to some aroids, the flower actually traps bugs in it overnight. The bugs ( usually flies ) are attracted by a scent and markings making the flower look somewhat like a rotting animal. They crawl into the flower past downward pointing hairs and end up in a chamber, where they find... nothing edible.

They can't get out because of the downward pointing hairs, but if they are carrying pollen from another flower, they can pollenate their host at this time.

Overnight, the Aristolochia releases pollen and then the hairs shrivel, allowing the bugs, now covered in pollen, to crawl back out and find another flower to pollenate. I've actually found a couple houseflies in an Aristolochia trilobata I once cut apart.

Anyway, I didn't find any houseflies in this particular flower, probably because it smells more like lemon pledge than a dead animal. Perhaps it is pollenated by small cleaning ladies in its natural environment?