Rare Flowering Vine Blooms

Dodder

• Dodder, also known as strangleweed and hellbind, is often classified as a noxious weed because of its parasitic nature. Dodder establishes itself on another plant or shrub, covering it with wiry stems that vary in color from yellow and green to orange or even reddish. The threads of the dodder plant thrive in full sun, and turn black once the plant it has covered dies. Its leaves are tiny, and the waxy, cream-colored flowers are more prominent. There are a variety of different types of dodders, but most of them are rare. They are very choosy about what plants they choose as hosts to cannibalize, and are found in only a handful of locations. Some species feed off of other weeds as their only host, making them a viable option for a natural control agent for these other species. Dodder has also long been a component in herbal and folk medicines, thought to absorb the properties of the plant it consumes. Dodder is found throughout USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 4 through 11, and different varieties thrive in different conditions.

Jade Vine

• The jade vine is native to the Philippines, and requires some specific conditions under which to grow; consequently, the jade vine is rarely found outside Zones 10 and 11. If it is, it must be grown under controlled conditions. The vine requires full sun and shade during the midday hours. Temperatures below 60 degrees F can kill it, and in order to reproduce its seeds it must be raised to a temperature of 80 degrees F in order to successfully germinate. The vine can be trained to grow across latticework and trellises, but is often grown in greenhouse containers, where the temperature and lighting conditions can be regulated.

  The jade vine's most attractive feature is without a doubt its flowers. A pale, aquamarine color rarely found in the plant world, the flowers bloom in the late spring and early summer. Claw-shaped flowers up to 5 inches in length hang in long clusters that can be 5 feet in length. Used in Hawaiian lei's, the flowers are an impressive display.

Railroad Vine

• The railroad vine is only found on the tropical and subtropical coastlines of the world, and in the United States it only grows along the Gulf Coast from Texas to Georgia. One vine of the railroad vine can be up to 100 feet in length, but they only grow a few inches high. Its leaves are evergreen, green and leathery. The vine flowers almost year round. The flowers are pink or lavender and open only once, and only in the morning hours. With their funnel shapes, they resemble the flowers of the more common morning glory. The railroad vine spreads quickly, and can grow in some of the most nutrient-poor soils. Surprisingly drought-tolerant for a coastal vine, the railroad vine was once used by Native Americans in ritual baths to ward off evil.