Flowerfriday: Port st John's creeper

Port st John's creeper is thought to be indigenous to South Africa but also might have been introduced to Southern Africa as it is only found naturally in two specific places, known to be frequented by early slave traders on the East coast of Africa. It is now found all over the world so it is impossible to tell where it originally came from

The big flowers are often visited by birds and carpenter bees and it is thought that the hairs on plants and bees are used to communicate whether the flower has previously been visited or not, via static electricity. It is possible that the hairiness of the bottom part of the flower guides the bee to find the pollen on the opposite side of the flower tube as the stamens of this flower are not in the centre of the tube but lie against the one side.

Port st John's creeper forms underground tubers which make it capable of surviving in dry environments and it grows prolifically and needs to be cut back regularly.