Recommended for your garden in the south of Spain: Telosma cordata

This is an attractive, tropical or subtropical, twining vine native to India, South China, Indochina and Myanmar

Denise Bush

Malaga

Friday, 27 December 2024, 13:16

Telosma cordata is an attractive, tropical or subtropical, twining vine native to India, South China, Indochina and Myanmar. Common names include cowslip creeper, Chinese violet, Pakalana vine and Ton kin jasmine. It is a member of the Apocynaceae family (dogbane).

It can grow to ten metres tall with support but two to five metres is more common and is suitable for hanging baskets, growing over pergolas and up walls and for cottage style / aromatherapy gardens.

The cowslip creeper is evergreen in temperate climates and has pretty, soft, heart-shaped leaves. The small, pale green, yellow or orange flowers form in clusters of between ten and twenty in the leaf axils. The flowers are scented, their perfume becoming more heady at night.

In Asian countries the flowers are used in many recipes, mainly stir-fried with eggs and to make soups. Oils extracted from the blooms are used in making perfumes and the older vines are used to make rope.

After flowering, cucumber-like seed pods develop, turning brown as they ripen. The brown seeds inside each have a tuft of silky hairs which helps with wind dispersal.

In ideal conditions (lots of sunshine, warmth, rich soil and continuous moisture) it can become invasive such as in Hawaii where it is popular for making leis.

Once established, Telosma cordata is drought resistant for short periods but it benefits from frequent watering during the hottest months. It will not withstand frosts or waterlogging and will grow in poor soils.

Extracts of the plant are used in Asian medicine to improve eyesight, treat back pain, as an antidote to poison and as a sedative.

Propagation is usually carried out from softwood cuttings but as the stems are very fine, they can be difficult to root. Telosma can also be grown from seeds.

Top 50

Esta funcionalidad es exclusiva para suscriptores.

Reporta un error en esta noticia