Family: Verbenaceae
Common name: Purple wreath, Queen’s wreath, Sandpaper vine
Queen’s Wreath or Sandpaper Vine is an unbelievably beautiful flowering vine admired by gardeners for their cascading bunches of lavender-purple flowers blooming amid the dark green foliage.
Plant characteristics
Native to South and Central America, this vigorous vine has captivated gardeners with its ornamental beauty and versatility in garden settings. The plant is a woody, twining vine that can grow to a height of 10 to 12 meters.
The semi-woody stem is covered with rough-textured, sandpapery leaves that are oval or heart-shaped. Queen’s wreath leaves are dark green, alternate, simple, and arranged thickly along the stem.
They are ovate or elliptical in shape, with a rough, sandpaper texture giving the plant its name, ‘Sandpaper Vine.‘ The leaves are 5 to 10 cm in length with prominent veins that extend from the base to the tip.
The flowers of Queen’s wreath plant are breathtakingly beautiful, appearing in dense, elongated clusters hanging down like exquisite little chandeliers.
They are small and tubular, with 5 distinct petals and long purple calyxes below the true flowers. The purple calyxes persist even after the flowers die. In the purple variant, the actual flowers are deep purple and calyxes are light purple, almost lavender in color.
Gardening tips
If Queen’s wreath plants are allowed to grow on trellises or supporting structures, the abundant blooms can cover the structure and attract pollinators like bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds with their sweet nectar.
There is a variant called Petrea Volubilis ‘white’ producing white flowers, as beautiful as the purple flowers. The plant is knows as Queen’s wreath because of the beautiful cascading flower clusters.
Once pollinated the flowers produce small drupe-like fruits which are not noticeable among the beautiful flowers.
Queen’s wreath plant should planted in locations with full sunlight to encourage blooming. Though the plant also grows in the shade, the flowering is not as proliferous.
Allow the plant to climb on trellises, supporting structures, or nearby vegetation and trim spent flowers to have the plant adorn your garden in full glory. Well-draining soil enriched with fertilizers is essential during the flowering period.
Since the plant blooms during spring and summer, it should be watered regularly to ensure that the soil is maintained moist.
In traditional herbal medicine, Queen’s wreath plants are used in the treatment of cuts, wounds, diabetes, and stomach ailments. The wood is not very strong and is hence used to make small implements and toys.
Propagation
Petrea volubilis can be propagated through seeds, stem cuttings, and layering.
Layering is the process of bending a low-growing, flexible stem to the ground and making a small incision where it touches the ground. This part is then covered with soil while it is still attached to the parent plant.
Roots form at the incision in a few weeks, after which it can be severed from the parent plant, and planted separately.
Photographed at: Hennur road, Bangalore
