The pretty pink vine with a Popcorn secret

💞 The pretty pink vine with a Popcorn secret

Antigonon leptopus, Mexican Coral Vine, looks almost ridiculously delicate - cascades of bright pink flowers, heart-shaped blooms, heart-shaped leaves, and bees buzzing all over it. Meanwhile, underground, it’s building a survival system. There is more under this vine than you think!

💞 Pretty above. Tough below.

Coral Vine develops a strong underground rootstock with tuberous roots. A hard freeze may knock the vine all the way to the ground, but don't assume it's gone. Those roots can survive and send up vigorous new growth when warm weather returns.

And vigorous really means vigorous. Give it sun and something to climb, and it can cover a fence, arbor or trellis with green foliage and masses of pink flowers in a single growing season.

💞 Listen to that buzzing

Those flowers aren't just decoration. Coral Vine produces plenty of nectar and attracts bees, butterflies and other pollinators 🐝
One Florida bee-botany reference even notes that large stands can provide enough nectar for a honey surplus - and describes the resulting honey as “dark colored honey.”
- Beekeeping: Florida Bee Botany
So that cloud of pink can actually become a serious bee restaurant!

💞 And now for the Popcorn secret

Here's the part we certainly didn't expect🍿
Ethnobiology of Baja California describes Coral Vine seeds being collected and stored, then toasted with hot coals, winnowed and ground for food.
The French National Museum of Natural History adds another curious detail, describing the seeds as traditionally prepared: in the same way as popcorn.
The underground tubers also have a history of being eaten as a vegetable.
This isn't a suggestion to raid your garden for dinner - just a fascinating piece of this plant's ethnobotanical history.

💞 Chain of Love

And take a closer look at those flowers. They're not perfect Valentine's hearts, but - kinda heart-shaped.
Add the unmistakably heart-shaped leaves and long cascading chains of pink, and some of its romantic common names suddenly make sense: Chain of Love, Hearts on a Chain, Love Vine and Queen's Wreath.

Delicate flowers above. A tough survival system below. Bees everywhere. An unexpected food history.
There's a lot more to this pretty pink vine than meets the eye.

🛒 Cover that fence - with Chain of Love

📚 Learn more:

• Antigonon leptopus in Plant Encyclopedia
• 5 Showy Vines to Plant This Fall for a Colorful Florida Winter
• Top 20 plants for a Butterfly Haven
• Top irresistible vines for a hummingbird haven: Part 1 • Part 2

#Hedges_with_benefits #Discover #Fun_Facts

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