Callaeum macropterum
Yellow Orchid Vine
Family: Malphigiaceae
Large, evergreen vine that can climb and spread about 30’ high and wide, or even wider. This vine climbs with twining new growth, but does not have tendrils and does not stick to flat walls. Provide some sort of lattice or grid to climb. Yellow flowers can appear almost any time of year, usually inspired by warm weather. Dry, butterfly-shaped, hop-like fruits follow the flowers. Because this plant evolved in the Sonoran Desert, not under a canopy of trees, the plant usually stays green at the base (many vines get woody and leafless at their bases).
Plant in full sun, or even on hot reflective walls. This plant can take the hottest spots you can give. Moderate to low water when established. Plants will defoliate in temperatures in the lower 20s °F, but are root hardy into the lower teens °F.
Pollinated by oil collecting bees. Used as larval hosts by the following butterflies:
Brown-banded Skipper (Timochares ruptifasciata)
White-patched Skipper (Chiothion georgina)
The genus name Callaeum comes from the Greek kallaion, or cockscomb, alluding to lobed or corrugated outgrowths on samara between lateral and dorsal wings in the type species. The species epitaph macropterum is Latin for “large wing” referring to the shape of the butterfly-shaped fruits.
Native to dry forests and fence rows, rocky slopes, rocky washes, edges of arroyos, hillsides and sandy plains, 150 to 6,000’ elevation, in northern Sonora and Baja California, and most of Central and South America.