A blossoming swan!

The plant kingdom is full of fascinating flowers that never fail to captivate us. Each blossom with its own peculiar shape, vibrant hues and lingering perfumes has its own charm.

The flower pictured here is one such captivating blossom which strongly resembles a swan in shape and structure before it goes into full bloom, and a coral after it has blossemed .

Has anyone of you seen this beautiful blossom which is the flower of the plant commonly known as the Gaping Dutchmen's Pipe? It's botanically called the (Aristolochia ringens) and belongs to the Aristolochiaceae family. The species name ringens means 'snarling' in Latin.

The Gaping Dutchman's Pipe is a tall, evergreen, hairless and slender twiner. It gracefully twines itself in tight coils around fences. The leaves are stalked, round and almost kidney-shaped. On the leaf blade about 5-7 nerves radiate from the base. The stipule are noticeably leaf-like, two loped and kidney-shaped.

The beautiful swan-like fragrant flowers are about 12 cm long and are scattered among the drooping leaves. The flowers which have a creamy yellow to greenish base are patterned with a network of vein-like design in burgundy, red and purple. The obvoid sack is about 2.5 inches long and woolly inside. The flower tube ascends obliquely from the sack, dividing into two very long lips which give an impression of a gaping mouth and so the name. However, overall the flower looks more like a swan when not fully opened .

These blossoming beauties which were originally native to Brazil have spread their roots in many parts of the world today and are found even in Sri Lanka. The ones pictured here are from the garden of a resident in Sri Lanka.

The plant can be propagated by seeds and herbaceous stem cuttings and the flowers bloom during March-August. Don't they look like beautiful corals when in full bloom?