PlantFiles: Watson's Dutchman's Pipe
Aristolochia watsonii

Another common name for this plant is Desert Pipevine. It is a perennial and comes back in the same location year after year regardless of winter cold, summer heat, or drought.

The flowers are short-lived, possibly one or two days. The leaves are narrow, triangular or arrow-head shaped, green, turning purple possibly due to age or full sun. The plant, often very low to the ground, can be hard to spot. The acorn-sized seed capsules can be the easiest part to see at the end of summer.

This plant is a host to the Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillar. The caterpillar is orange and black, forms a yellow chrysalis, and becomes a 4" wide black butterfly.