Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Bushy Pink Wildflowers

Being a native of Mexico, and probably introduced here during the Spanish period more than four centuries ago, this vine is called "Cadena-de-amor" here in the Philippines. It is a Spanish term that means chain of love, maybe because the flowers are in elongated spikes and the leaves are heart shaped. Other common names in literature are Mexican creeper, coral vine, corallita, confederate vine.  Botanically, it is called Antigonon leptopusWe have the pink and white varieties. 


In the past it could have been domestically cultivated in gardens, but eventually escaped to the wild and now luxuriantly growing there, invading vacant areas and climbing other trees. In Florida it is already considered type II invasive. Here, a previous high government official fell in love with its pink beauty and ordered all center islands of major city streets be planted with it. He envisioned it fully climbing the provided center structures or the side fences. However, being normally growing in the wild with clean air and water, it did not grow beautifully when directly bombarded with car exhausts and fumes. He did not think of it being shocked with the polluted air around, not yet evolved to the environment it was suddenly brought in. Eventually, all the iron trellises were removed and the hope of making the whole metropolis a "pink city" was laid to rest. 
cadena-de-amor growing nicely with other side street weeds in the countryside

it blooms nicely even in flat surfaces, but more beautifully when high among the trees

the heart-shaped leaves are also beautifully textured

the bees also love them

a white variety from Wikipedia

WILDFLOWER WEDNESDAY CELEBRATING WILDFLOWERS ALL OVER THE BLOGASPHERE


16 comments:

  1. Gorgeous, Andrea... I have a good friend who has visited Mexico several times. She talks about all of the beautiful flowers there. Bet one of them is the gorgeous one you pictured today... Love those heart shaped flowers. And the color is fabulous...

    Thanks for sharing.
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  2. Very pretty blooms. I like that you can get all the heights with it too.

    Cher Sunray Gardens

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  3. Andrea, I think I have seen the same plant - the one with the pink flowers - while I was travelling in Southern India recently. It looked like it was being invasive there also. @Jalaja

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  4. The Spanish sure did a number on our world:) Horses, plants, diseases....all for "God" and more importantly....Gold.

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  5. A beautiful transplant...I love the bright pink against the green leaves!

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  6. A beautiful post for Wildflower Wednesday!
    Have a great day!
    Lea
    Lea's Menagerie

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  7. Pretty in pink. And a lovely pink also. Wildflowers are often dismissed and they have such variety and are often very delicate looking. We have those so pretty too but invasive, like purple loosestrife. It makes a pretty garden plant as well as in a vase, but should not be propogated. I think your pink wildflower would look nice in a vase too.

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  8. i thought cadena de amor was similar to jasmine. thanks for clearing this up for me.

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  9. Interesting story Andrea, I wonder who that politician is??

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  10. the color of those flowers is amazing! it's too bad that it's such an aggressive grower. happy wildflower wednesday!

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  11. In Malaysia, Coral Vine grows wild in by the roadside too. I am planting the pink one at home, purchased from a nursery but not many nurseries have this plant for sale. I plant it at home because I see the butterfly farms in KL and Penang having them and they are a magnet for butterflies. My coral vine at home attracts honey bees. I think this plant is good for the environment because it feeds the bees, butterflies, birds and other beneficial insects besides needing minimum care and maintenance - save money for me too.

    In malay language it is called "Airmata Pengantin meaning "Bride's Tears" - happy tears?

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  12. He had a great vision though maybe it's best it didn't thrive as people would get bored with it. It has beautiful clusters of blooms.

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  13. How beautiful Andrea! It must be lovely to see it naturalize along the countryside roads. It grows up into the trees too? So, hopefully the gov official will not regret his decision. I hope it does not become too invasive.

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  14. This is a beautiful plant, even if it is invasive. It's interesting that it didn't survive the experiment in the city.

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  15. That is a lovely bloomer! The story about it is interesting. We need to consider the health of the existing plant and animal life when we do any extensive planting. I'm glad nature took care of itself in this case. At least the bees like it, though!

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  16. I like to visit your province. Looks like paradise to me!

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