Antigonon leptopus (Mexican creeper, "Nitobekazura")

Japanese name: ニトベカズラ （新渡戸葛）
Scientific name: Antigonon leptopus

[Overview]
A climbing subshrub with tuberous roots underground.
It grows fast, and under suitable conditions the stems can reach more than 10 m in length.
The stems are slender and ridged, and square in cross section.
The leaves are simple and alternate, heart-shaped, with entire margins.
Tendrils appear opposite the leaves and twine around other objects.
Racemes also appear opposite the leaves, and the tips of the inflorescences become tendrils.
In regions where temperatures are high enough, it flowers all year round.
The flowers are borne in groups of 5–15, and the petal-like calyx, colored red to pink, is conspicuous.
The fruit is a three-ridged achene.

[History]
It was introduced to Japan in 1971.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed, by cuttings, or by root cuttings.
It prefers a sunny, well-drained, fertile site.
In warm regions it can overwinter outdoors.
It is somewhat sensitive to cold, and frost kills the aboveground parts, but if the underground tuberous roots do not freeze, it sprouts again the following spring.
For potted plants, water thoroughly when the soil surface dries during the growing period, and withhold water during dormancy.
For plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient unless summer brings a long spell of sunny weather and the soil becomes severely dry.
Apply fertilizer from spring until before flowering, but too much nitrogen produces only leafy growth and poor flowering.
There are no particular pests or diseases.

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