Aristolochia watsonii
Aristolochia watsonii is a perennial plant in the birthwort family, found growing among plants of the Arizona Uplands in the Sonoran Desert. The plant is inconspicuous, small and hard to spot, but can be found by following the pipevine swallowtail which lays eggs on it.
Description
Growth pattern
It grows as vine with scrambling stems that create a dense, tangled mat over the years when growing on open ground.Roots, stems, and leaves
According to one source, stems are long, with greenish-brown arrowhead-shaped leaves. Another source states stems can reach, in dense mats that are wide. It drops its leaves in the fall and winter, and loses stems as well as leaves in a freeze. In full sun and drought conditions, leaves turn from green to purple-brown.Inflorescence and fruit
It has "bizarre" looking, musky-smelling flowers, which resemble the ear of a rodent.It blooms from April to October. flowers are shaped like a rodent's ear are green or burgundy-brown outside to the ear rim, then green speckled with burgundy-brown inside, with hairs on the opening ear rim. Flowers last 1–2 days.
Fruits are capsules having five vertical ribs with triangular-shaped flat and black seeds in each of five compartments.