Flame Vine

Pyrostegia venusta (Ker-Gawl) Miers

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Explanation of name: According to BA1, generic name from Greek, meaning fire and roof, referring to the color of the flowers and the shape of the upper lip of the corolla tube. Venustus is Latin for beautiful.

Natural range: Brazil (BA1)

Synonym: Pyrostegia ignea Presl

Recognition: Woody vine or shrub having opposite compound leaves with 2-3 leaflets, one leaflet sometimes modified into a tendril. The bright orange flowers are 2”-3” long, having corolla tubes with reflexed lobes.

            Resembles Cape-Honeysuckle (Tecoma capensis), likewise in the Bignoniaceae, this differing by having fewer (2-3 vs.more) entire-margined (vs. serrate) leaflets, these often with tendrils.

Landscape uses: Fast-growing, heavy, woody shrubby vine featuring showy orange clusters mostly in late winter. Popular on fences. CHR suggests severe pruning after flowering.