Hi everyone! I'm new to gardenstew and I'm hoping this is the place to get some help. I'm a total newbie in the garden/plant world but I'm eager to learn. My husband and I recently bought some land in the mountains about 45 minutes outside of Caracas, Venezuela. It's sort of a subtropical climate - it can get pretty hot during the day when the sun is shining but it also tends towards fog and cooler (relatively) nights. There are a whole bunch of plants that I can't identify, but the first I'll present to you is this lovely purple flowered vine (sorry for the blurry photo, my camera struggles with close ups). You see it intertwined with another plant - its leaves are the smaller, darker green, smooth ones on the left. Also note the seed pods. My internet search keeps bringing me to hyacinth bean but when I compare the photos they don't look the same at all. Our seed pods are long and very skinny, and not bright purple but rather purple-black. Any ideas from the experts here? Thanks in advance. mystery vine ( photo / image / picture from zafra's Garden )
You're right... it doesn't appear to be the Hyacinth vine... well at least not the one I have. Could be in the same family though? I'm sure one of the others will come along and help out very soon.
I went out and looked at my Hyacinth bean vine to compare with your mystery plant. There are just so different. My leaves are more heart-shape. And there are some similarities in the flowers... but just not the same. And as you said, the beans are completely different. Don't give up hope yet! I'm sure someone will help.
I googled wild pea images and found one that does look very similar, but the rest not so much. It's for sure a pea relative of some kind judging by the shape of the flower (and the fact that it has pea pods ), but I can't seem to zero in on the specific variety. Thanks for the responses so far folks.
Zafra, so sorry not more of us are any help to you. I have never seen this type of flower. It reminds me of a stingray. lol The leaf very much reminds me of a bean. Can you find a seed of the plant in the seed pod and see if it looks like a bean or a pea seed. most seeds are very plant specific within the family. Meaning they all look so similar you wouldn't know what variety you had, only that it is a specific family. The flower does not resemble anything I have ever seen. Do you know if this is a perennial or an annual. How big does it get, what zone are you in, does it get full sun or does it need shade? Do you have any neighbors who are familiar with it?
Hi, I think it is what we call here in Aus. a wild butterfly pea vine, colour can be different shades of purple.
That's IT!!! The first image i see in the google image search list is pretty much identical to ours - thank you Chocolate!!
Chocolate, So glad you are here to help, especially these tropical flowers that those of us in the northern hemipshere never see. I kept checking to see if anyone had any information.....I don't want to post "I have never seen this, good luck"...but with a few more clues maybe we could figure it out, so thanks. Zafra, so glad you got your answer.
