''Beaumontia'' is a small genus of evergreen
woody vines in the
milkweed family. It is native to
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
, the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...
, and
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
.
[Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families]
/ref>
Description
''Beaumontia'' plants are often rampant climbers and vine
A vine is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas, or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselves, for instance, when used in wicker work.Jackson; Benjamin; Da ...
s. They are mostly evergreen, though in subtropical gardens '' Beaumontia grandiflora'' loses many leaves in winter. Leaves are large, smooth and opposite with sticky white sap from petiolar glands.
The large white fragrant flowers are borne in corymbs terminal and in the leaf axils. The calyx is 5-lobed and the corolla is dark funnel-or bell-shaped with 5 lobes. Stamens are attached near the base of the corolla tube and have slender filaments with arrow-shaped anthers. They are very showy when in full bloom and are regarded as among the most outstanding vines of the world.
The fruits (seed capsules) comprises a pair of thick woody follicles. The seeds are compressed, apex gradually narrows with a silky coma (a tuft of hairs).
Taxonomy
The genus was circumscribed In geometry, a circumscribed circle for a set of points is a circle passing through each of them. Such a circle is said to ''circumscribe'' the points or a polygon formed from them; such a polygon is said to be ''inscribed'' in the circle.
* Circum ...
by Nathaniel Wallich
Nathaniel Wolff Wallich (28 January 1786 – 28 April 1854) was a surgeon and botanist of Danish origin who worked in India, initially in the Danish settlement near Calcutta and later for the Danish East India Company and the British East Indi ...
in Tent. Fl. Napal. on page 14 in 1824.Wakefield
Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...
, Yorkshire. She had an estate with massive dome-shaped glasshouse for exotic plants at Bretton Hall.
Cultivation
The ''Beaumontia'' species are cultivated as ornamental plant
Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...
s, with ''Beaumontia grandiflora'' widely grown by the nursery trade. They prefer good soil, adequate water and hot moist conditions. They are found planted and trained as vines in subtropical climate
The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones immediately to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately 3 ...
gardens, such as in Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...
.
They are propagated from seed or half-hardened cuttings taken with a heel, rooted in sandy soil under mist.[Ellison, Don (1999) Cultivated Plants of the World. London: New Holland (1st ed.: Brisbane: Flora Publications International, 1995)]
Species
As accepted by Kew;[
]
formerly included
* ''Beaumontia indecora'' Baill = '' Vallaris indecora'' (Baill.) Tsiang & P.T.Li
* ''Beaumontia wallichii'' (A.DC.) Walp. = '' Wrightia arborea'' (Dennst.) Mabb.
''Beaumontia grandiflora'' gallery
File:หิรัญญิการ์ Beaumontia grandiflora Wall. FAMILY APOCYNACEAE (1).jpg, Beaumontia grandiflora
File:หิรัญญิการ์ Beaumontia grandiflora Wall. FAMILY APOCYNACEAE (2).jpg, Beaumontia grandiflora
File:หิรัญญิการ์ Beaumontia grandiflora Wall. FAMILY APOCYNACEAE (4).jpg, Beaumontia grandiflora
File:หิรัญญิการ์ Beaumontia grandiflora Wall. FAMILY APOCYNACEAE (7).jpg, Beaumontia grandiflora
References
External links
Horticulture: ''Beaumontia grandiflora''
{{Authority control
Apocyneae
Apocynaceae genera
Vines
Flora of the Indomalayan realm