Pandorea jasminoides

Location & distribution maps

Phylogeny & links to associated information:

Wikipedia links:       Angiosperms  > Eudicots > Asterids > Lamiales > Bignoniaceae > Pandorea  jasminoides

Other links:     

Plant  information

Common name:              Bower of Beauty 

• Also, bower vine

Conservation status:   unknown

Etymology:   

• The genus name is a reference to Pandora of Greek mythology who opened a jar (Pandora's box) releasing all the evils of humanity, alluding to the many-seeded capsules produced by species of Pandorea

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Flowers:                  

• White or pink trumpet-shaped flowers that are red and hairy inside

• The flowers are borne on the ends of stems or in upper leaf axils in groups 60–120 mm long

• The five sepals are fused at the base forming a cup-shaped tube 5–8 mm long with lobes 1–2 mm long

• The five petals are fused at the base forming a trumpet shape that is white or pink on the outside and pink to red and hairy inside, the tube 40–60 mm long with lobes 20–30 mm long

• The four stamens are enclosed in the petal tube

• Flowering occurs from September to March 

Fruit:                         

• The fruit is an oblong or oval capsule 40–60 mm long and 10–20 mm wide containing winged seeds

Leaves:         

•  Pinnate leaves that have three to nine egg-shaped leaflets

• The leaves are mainly arranged in opposite pairs along the stems or sometimes in whorls of three, and are 120–170 mm long and pinnate with three to nine leaflets

• The leaflets are egg-shaped to more or less lance-shaped, 45–60 mm long and 15–30 mm  wide

•  The leaves are on a petiole 20–40 mm long

• The lateral leaflets on petiolules 2–4 mm long and the end leaflet on a petiolule 5–30 mm long.

Stem & branches: 

• A woody climber with dark brown bark and glabrous stems

Roots:         

Habit:        

• It is a woody climber 

Habitat:   

• Rainforest

Distribution:                  

• Endemic to eastern Australia

• From central eastern Queensland to the Hastings River in NSW 

• Isolated occurrences further south in Kangaroo Valley and as far north as Mount Lewis National Park in far northern Queensland

Additional notes:     

• Taxonomy

  • Bower of beauty was first formally described in 1837 by George Don, who gave it the name Tecoma jasminoides in his book, A General History of Dichlamydeous Plants

  • In 1894, Karl Moritz Schumann changed the name to Pandorea jasminoides in Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien

• Use in horticulture

  •   It is grown as an ornamental plant

  • This climber can be propagated from seed, stem cuttings or by layering

  • Its vigorous growth makes it suitable for screening or climbing on pergolas and trellises

  • It should not be planted near sewer pipes

  • The species has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit

Sources of information:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandorea_jasminoides (2023)