"leftred" writes:
"John Savage" wrote in message
news:050330000091148.30Mar05$rookswood@suburbian. com...
and are basically trumpet shaped, but hang down then turn fully upwards
before flaring out widely to face you, very like a tuba! These look like

At the risk of introducing a serious note into this thread. Your vine sounds
like a Dutchman's Pipe Vine (Aristolochia elegans). Try here
http://www.brisrain.webcentral.com.a...e12/dpipe.html

Alas, that address came up as invalid, but I found the page cached at
google. The flowers are not like any smoker's pipe so it is not A. elegans
but you have set me on the right track. I read that there are 300 species
of Aristolochia and I'm confident of finding my curiosity among them. It
is close to the calico flower, A. littoralis I'd say. It's remarkable how
difficult it is to get a clear picture of the leaf on these web sites,
but next time I'm passing by I'll look to see whether the undersides are
pale, and leaves alternate along the vine. At least I now know that it's
definitely some type of pipe vine. The next thing is to find out whether
it is unfriendly to the Richmond Birdwing butterfly like some of the
Dutchmans pipes.

Many thanks.
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)