Podranea brycei (queen of Sheba vine)

Japanese name: ポドラネア ブリーセイ
Scientific name: Podranea brycei

[Overview]
An evergreen woody climber up to 10 m, though in Japan it is deciduous except in warm regions.
Young plants are shrubby.
The leaves are opposite and odd-pinnately compound, 13–27 cm long, with 2–7 pairs of leaflets.
The leaflets are narrowly ovate with long pointed tips, glossy, and entire at the margin.
Panicles are produced at the branch tips.
The flowers are purplish pink with reddish purple streaks; the corolla is funnel-shaped to bell-shaped with a tube 3.5–5 cm long, 5-lobed at the tip, and hairy in the throat inside.
The calyx is whitish, encloses the bud before flowering, and splits into 5 lobes when the flower opens.
The fruit is a flat capsule 35–50 cm long and 1.5 cm wide, and the seeds have wings at both ends.

[Cultivation]
Propagate by cuttings.
As long as the site is sunny and well drained, it is not particular about soil.
It can overwinter outdoors in areas without frost, but potted plants are moved to a sunny spot indoors in winter.
Take care not to let it get too wet; for potted plants, water thoroughly when the soil surface dries from spring to autumn, and keep it on the dry side in winter.
For plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient.
Apply basal fertilizer, and also place slow-release fertilizer on the soil once a month from spring to autumn.
There are no particular pests or diseases.

View this page in Japanese (日本語)