This flower is beautiful. It has a delicious fragrance somewhat like the lilac, though much heavier and sweeter. A light breeze will bring a concentration of perfume from this flower to the nose. So, what is the name of this pretty and sweetly scented flower? I'll try to answer that question in hopes of preventing disappointment to those who order seed for this vine.
I have so many pictures of Caracalla, I've lost track of which are mine and which I downloaded. To see pictures I have taken, look here:
The names given to many flowers reflect a similarity of the flower's appearance to the appearance of other objects found in nature. This flower is no exception. This practice can cause much confusion as different people will find a flower's characteristics similar to different other objects.
This flower has more than its share of common and botanical names. It has been and still is called 'Cochliasanthus'. Those who use this name see a similarity in the flower's structure to the structure of a portion of the inner ear known as the 'cochlea'.
Others see a similarity of the flower's structure to that of certain shells such as that of the common land snail and some marine snails. Those who do, prefer to use the terms 'shell vine' and 'snail vine'.
Still, others find the spiral, twisting features of the flower to be somewhat like the configuration of a corkscrew. Those who do, refer to the flower as 'corkscrew vine'.
So much for some of the common names given to this flower. The plant itself produces a pod containing fruit resembling a pea or bean. Earlier, taxonomists placed this flower/plant in the genus 'Phaseolus', with species including the black bean, kidney bean, pinto bean, and green bean.
In 1970, taxonomists removed this plant from the Phaseolus genus and placed it in the 'Vigna' genus which includes species such as the mung bean and the cowpea.
One name for this vine which seems to be fairly stable is 'Caracalla', presumably from Caracalla who was a Roman Emperor, originally named 'Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus Augustus'.
If we can trust the findings of taxonomists, this plant is 'Vigna caracalla'. As the genus 'Vigna' includes many species, but only one known as 'caracalla', I think this plant could be properly called Vigna caracalla, though you are more likely to find it listed as Cochliasanthus'.
With this in mind, I think the best common name for the plant would be 'Caracalla'. That name would cover snail, shell, corkscrew, cochliasanthus, and Vigna.
Now, if you have followed this post this far, you might wonder, 'Why all this boring information'? There is a good reason. Since the time I posted my first article on this vine, a lot of interest has been shown. I'm thinking several members plan to order seed for this vine, soon.
Since I discovered this vine, I've done a lot of research. I've found that many people ordered seed only to be disappointed. The major complaint was that the flowers had no scent. I'm sure this was due to the people being sent seed for Phaseolus rather than Vigna. This seems to be a common practice as I have read many accounts of such. Some seed companies even sell their seed as Phaseolus caracalla. To my knowledge, there is no such animal.
If you plan to grow this vine, my advice to you is to buy seed only from a reputable dealer such as Parks. Even reputable dealers may sell them under different names. Be sure you buy from a company showing a picture of the bloom and do be sure the ad refers to the fragrance of the blooms.
I did not buy my seed from a large, reputable dealer. I bought them from a dealer on eBay. I was fortunate that I received exactly what I ordered. There are several dealers offering these seed on eBay. As it turns out, the dealer I purchased from, also offered them at the lowest price.
If you plan to buy seed from one of these lesser known dealers, be sure to ask someone who has ordered from them, if they were pleased with their purchase.
As cold weather continues, I'm finding that these plants are easily kept indoors during the winter. They have not gone dormant. Instead, they are growing very well. This is after I cut them back severely before bringing them in. This tells me I should have established plants to set out come spring and that I will have blooms much earlier than if I started from seed. It also tells me I shouldn't have to by seed ever again.
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