Callaeum macropterum, Yellow Orchid Vine
Scientific Name: Callaeum macropterum
Common Name: Yellow Orchid Vine
Also Called: Butterfly Pea Vine, Hillyhock, Yellow Butterfly Vine (Spanish; Aparigua, Gallinita, Guirote)
Family: Malpighiaceae, Barbados Cherry Family
Synonyms: (Mascagnia macroptera, Stigmaphyllon ciliatum)
Status: Native
Duration: Perennial
Size: Up to 30 feet and 15 feet or more across.
Growth Form: Vine; erect, readily twining but spreading or trailing (scandent) if not supported.
Leaves: Green, leaves opposite, evergreen, glabrous, simple, deciduous, leaves ovate to elliptic, about 2 or 3 inches long and 1 inch wide.
Flower Color: Yellow; in clusters of 5, corolla with 5 petals, fruits papery, resemble butterflies when fully developed.
Flowering Season: Spring through summer.
Elevation: 150 to 6,000 feet.
Habitat Preferences: Dry forests and fence rows, rocky slopes, rocky washes, edges of arroyos, hillsides and sandy plains.
Recorded Range: Yellow Orchid Vine is native to northern Sonora and Baja California, and most of Central and South America.
North America & US County Distribution Map for Callaeum macropterum.
U.S. Weed Information: No information available.
Invasive/Noxious Weed Information: No information available.
Wetland Indicator: No information available.
Threatened/Endangered Information: No information available.
Genus Information: USDA Plants shows 1 specimen in Callaeum in the United States as occurring in *Arizona. *A specimen of Callaeum macropterum, without a definite location from Arizona (Palmer 1869) has been discredited as a result of inaccurate labels found in Palmer's collection. The specimen in question is believed to have originated from the Yaqui River in Sonora, Mexico.
The Plant List includes 24 scientific plant names of species rank for the genus Callaeum. Of these 11 are accepted species names.
Comments: Yellow Orchid Vine is sold as an ornamental landscape plant, it is hardy and can withstand temperatures to 24 F. In gardens this plant needs to be pruned to control size.