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Pergularia viridiflora

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Photo by Bruce McLennan, Bie.ala.org.au.


Photo by Bruce McLennan, Bie.ala.org.au.


The floweers by Bruce McLennan, Bie.ala.org.au.

Author:  Curtius Polycarp J. Sprengel, 1824
Family:  ASCLEPIADACEAE*
Origin:  Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, Northern Territories; Australia, New Guinea
Soil:  Mix
Water:  Medium
Sun:  Maximum
Thickness:  10 Centimetres
Height:  7 Metres
Flower:  Greenish Yellow
Propagate:  Seeds/Cuttings
Names:  Bush Banana
Synonyms:  Marsdenia viridiflora, R.Br. 1811.
Leichhardtia viridiflora?
Asclepias viridiflora,
E. Mey.?
Marsdenia viridiflora subsp. tropica, P.I.Forst.

This member of the Asclepiadaceae* family was given this name by Curtius Polycarp Joachim Sprengel in 1824. It is found in most of Australia and in New Guinea, growing in a well drained soil with some water and lots of sun. The tubers can grow to ten centimetres in diameter, the vines can reach seven metres. The flowers are greenish to yellow, and the plant can be reproduced both by seeds and cuttings.

The genera name from Latin pergula;  'reading room, atelier', for the plants ability to grow on gazebos. The species name means 'green flowers'.

*This family might been incorporated in the Apocynaceae family now.


The fruit from Skipas.wordpress.com.