Dried butterflies and design
I’m sure you’ve seen the article about our Garden Club’s “Spring Spectacular,” April 29 to 30, at the Cape Coral Library. I not only am a member of the Garden Club of Cape Coral, but I am a member of the co-host, Potpourri Club. That is a group of the Lee County/Fort Myers Federated Garden Council members interested in learning how to do flower show designs. The really top designers are in The Eclectic Club, we are the want’a learn gals. So I am expected to do a floral design, which has now stretched to two designs, two clubs, right?
I wanted to find some butterfly vine seed pods that when dried, look like butterflies and can be painted all sorts of “spring” colors in my floral design. I have a dear Master Gardener friend that has bags of these seedpods from her prolific vine, so I gave her a call and she produced a bag full. I am now working on two different designs. Butterflies say “spring,” so away I go.
Mascagnia macroptera (synonym is Callaeum macoptera) the butterfly or orchid vine, or Gallinita, is a heat loving, drought tolerant evergreen vine (during mild winters), that spreads its glowing intense clusters of 1-inch flat orchid-like yellow blossoms all through the landscape in the spring and in the fall. It is related to the Barbados Cherry in the Malpighiaceae family. Their main attraction is the chartreuse seedpods that resemble a butterfly. The seeds are in the chartreuse body of the butterfly that turns brown with maturity. Although papery, these pods keep well and don’t crumble like other old plant pods, making them so easy to do crafts with them. They love to hang on the shrub, giving it yellow blooms and chartreuse then brown seedpods all at the same time.
The vine is known to grow to 15-20 feet high and wide. If not trellised upwards, it climbs all over itself and can be pruned into a dwarf shrub. A person that had one described it living on her fence offering marvelous privacy – nothing can see through it and nothing can go through it. Birds blissfully build their nests in it, knowing they are safe.
I bought one and never got a chance to plant it. They say it grows in most any soil, but prefers rich, well-drained soil. Without a freeze, it grows fast as an evergreen vine with long vines that can climb or root at nodes when left lying on the ground. This is a good way to propagate it. The seeds are difficult to grow. DO NOT pre-soak the seeds if trying to grow from seeds, they will rot. The seeds are found inside the body of the butterfly pod. Pull the body apart and there is the seed. Roll the seed between your thumb and fingers, if it crumbles, it is not viable. Then, like hibiscus seeds, you need to scarify the seed, making two or three notches into the seed’s skin.
Little maintenance is required. They can tolerate light freezes and are hardy up to zone 8, zone 7 is chancy. Plants are generally hardy as long as the weather doesn’t drop below 20 to 25 degrees. Since they are a fast growing vine, they can be used as an annual vine in lower zone areas.
My son-in-law is painting my house and has pulled all my potted plants out into the yard. I lost track of where my butterfly vine was, but the minute I tripped over a long, tough vine, I knew it had been located.
The gal in the State Federated Garden Council Program that does horticulture articles for its publications also does crafts with plants and teaches young children in the junior gardener programs. She thought it was perfect for them to make wreaths decorated with the painted butterfly seedpods. They are attractive in many craft projects. She called it the butterfly pea vine that hailed from Baja, Calif., and Mexico. This plant is a great xeriscape plant in Arizona and very attractive to bees, butterflies and birds.
Train this easy growing vine up a trellis, fence, arbor, mailbox, light post or any other support. Water new plants until well established, then little care is necessary. As a drought-tolerant and heat tolerant plant, it will flourish in a western full sun exposure, even do well at the mailbox between the pavement and sidewalk. Full sun and rich soil are best, but it can survive nicely in partial shade and almost any well-drained soil.
There have been reports that it is aggressive in certain conditions, spreading to nearby woods, covering bushes and plants. I don’t find it on the invasive list. It does need to be pruned regularly to keep it in check. Pests and diseases are rarely a problem, but NO fertilizer is necessary or required
The genus name for Mascagnia macroptera was given in 1824, by the Italian naturalist and physician, Carlo Luigi Guiseppe Bertero (1789-1831) to honor Paolo Mascagni ( 1755-1815), an Italian naturalist and professor of anatomy at the University of Pisa. The second part comes from two Greek words, “macro” meaning “large” and “ptera” meaning “winged,” describing the seedpod. There is some confusion about the current name and it has also been known as Callaeum macropterum. It is another case of changing genus names. The Plant List (a collaboration between The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and the Missouri Botanic Garden) has been a very useful resource solving these issues, but they have listed both Callaeum macropterum and Mascagnia macroptera as valid. These things confuse some commercial plant growers.
We don’t really need to worry about such things, we just need to enjoy the beauty and fun of such a plant.
It’s not a tree, but you can thank it for refining and replenishing our fresh air.
Come to the library next Friday and Saturday to enjoy our presentation of horticulture and designs.
Don’t forget that Friday, today, is Earth Day, celebrate.
Joyce Comingore is a Master Gardener, hibiscus enthusiast and member of the Garden Club of Cape Coral.