Fagraea auriculata is a scrambling shrub or semi-liana from wet tropical Asia, valued for its huge white trumpet-shaped flowers. It needs warm, humid, bright conditions and is mainly grown in tropical gardens or greenhouses.
Family
Gentianaceae (Gentian family)
Grows as
Shrub, Climber
Light
Part shade, Bright indirect
Water
Keep the soil evenly moist during growth and reduce slightly in cooler months.
Soil
Well-draining, humus-rich potting mix or garden loam.
Temperature
20–35 °C; protect below 15 °C
How easy
Moderate
Native range
Bangladesh to Malesia
Climate
wet tropical
About
Fagraea auriculata is a species of bush or semi-liana in the family Gentianaceae, formerly in the family Loganiaceae. It can be found in Indo-China and Malesia (where it may be called bira-bira); in Viet Nam it is called trai tai. It is noted for its huge, white, trumpet-shaped flowers; up to 30 cm (12 in) in both length and width. These flowers, the largest produced by any vine, are made of tissue up to 6 mm thick. The size, colour, heavy construction and the fact that they have a musty odour suggest that bats are important pollinators. The leaves are Magnolia-like in size and shape.
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Fagraea auriculata by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.