A deciduous, climbing, massing vine up to 20′ long. After it blooms, the plant sends out new heart-shaped leaves. In the wild it will spread out over open ground or sprawl over other plants. Purple-striped curving pipe-shaped flowers which give rise to winged capsular green fruits. The flowers have an unpleasant odor which is attractive to tiny carrion-feeding insects. This plant is host to the pipevine swallow tail butterfly. When seed pods mature, their opening draws numbers of yellowjackets; placement of this plant should take this into account.

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Aristolochia californica – Calscape