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Silkvine

Periploca graeca

Also called Grecian Silkvine

Silkvine
Photo: Unknown author, Public domain

Periploca graeca is a climbing woody shrub from southern Europe and the Middle East, grown for its twining habit and fragrant foliage. It is vigorous and tolerant, so give it a sunny spot with room to climb or sprawl.

Family
Apocynaceae (Dogbane family)
Grows as
Shrub, Climber
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Water
Water regularly while establishing, then allow the top of the soil to dry between waterings.
Soil
Well-drained soil, tolerates poor and dry ground.
Temperature
10–30 °C; hardy to about -15 °C
How easy
Easy
Safety
Toxic: The bark contains periplocin, a cardenolide glycoside with digitoxin-like activity; all parts should be treated as poisonous.
Native range
SE. Europe to N. Iran
Climate
temperate

About

Periploca graeca, the silkvine, is an ornamental plant in the family Apocynaceae. It is native to southern Europe and the Middle East, and is sparingly naturalized in scattered locations in the eastern United States.

The bark of Periploca graeca contains the toxic cardenolide glycoside periplocin with activity similar to digitoxin. The essential oil of the stem bark contains the fragrant phenolic compound 2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzaldehyde, a positional isomer of vanillin.

Other Periploca plants

Silk Vines

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Periploca graeca 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.

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