science

Pararistolochia enricoi

Pararistolochia enricoi is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Pararistolochia enricoi rather than just read about it. In short: Pararistolochia enricoi is an endemic Malagasy species of plant in the birthwort family, the only species belonging to the genus Pararistolochia within the island. Description The species is a climbing and ground-sprawling, deciduous vine or liana.

Key takeaways

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Connect Pararistolochia enricoi to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Pararistolochia enricoi from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Pararistolochia enricoi is an endemic Malagasy species of plant in the birthwort family, the only species belonging to the genus Pararistolochia within the island.

Description

The species is a climbing and ground-sprawling, deciduous vine or liana. The stem can reach 15–25 m high and presents an 8-shaped cross section, typical of the genus. Leaves are 4–8 cm long, sparsely pubescent on both surfaces and variable in shape. Young shoots are attenuated, densely covered with golden hairs. The inflorescences arise from the corky stem, sometimes at ground level. Flowers are up to about 5 cm long and are covered by white hairs. Flower tubes are S-curved, funnel-shaped, enlarging throughout and constricted below the throat, which is bright sulphur-yellow; there are 2 lobes, triangular to well-rounded and purple. The utricle is punctuated with small red spots and purple-veined. The gynostemium i s2.7 mm long by 1.6 mm wide. There 6 yellow antheres, each consisting of 4 pollen sacs, and 6 green stigmatic lobes. The fruits are pendulous, cucumber-like, indehiscent, woody, 6-ribbed, up to 5.5 cm long, and brown when mature. The seeds are heart-shaped, convex and rough above, concave and smooth below, and 4 mm long by 4 mm wide.

Taxonomy The specific epithet enricoi isin honour of the first author's brother Enrico Luino who died in 2003 at the age of 21 and whom he credits with triggering in him the passion for tropical botany. As of May 2026, Plants of the World Online regarded the genus Pararistolochia as a synonym of Aristolochia, and the species P. enricoi as "unplaced".

Distribution and ecology Pararistolochia enricoi is only known from the eroded limestone formations ("Tsingy" in Malagasy) of Beanka in western Madagascar. Its ecology seems to be strongly related to the climax deciduous forest type, where it grows in shaded conditions. According to the collection period, anthesis takes place in November and fruits ripen between December and January. The plant is deciduous and leaves are absent during the dry season, generally from May to October.

Pollination The plant-insect interactions of Pararistolochia enricoi are still unknown. In western and southern Madagascar the monospecific butterfly genus Pharmacophagus antenor (Drury, 1773) (the only representative of the tribe Troidini in Madagascar) is known to be monophagous on Aristolochia albida. As documented by Parsons (1996b), the larvae of the troidine papilionid butterflies of the Australasian genus Ornithoptera feed primarily on Pararistolochia in the Australasian region. Considering the overlapping distributions of P. enricoi and Pharmacophagus antenor together with the known feeding habits of the latter, one could hypothesize that P. antenor larvae also feed on Pararistolochia enricoi (Parsons, 1996b).

References

Further reading Parsons, M.J. (1996a). "New species of Aristolochia and Pararistolochia (Aristolochiaceae) from Australia and New Guinea". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 120 (3): 199–238. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.1996.tb00772.x. Poncy, O. (1978). "Le genre Pararistolochia, Aristolochiaceae d'Afrique tropicale". Adansonia. 17 (4): 465–494. doi:10.5962/p.297132. Parsons, M.J. (1996b). "The immature stages of Pharmacophagus antenor (Drury) (Papilionidae : Troidini) from Madagascar". J. Lepidopterists' Soc. 50: 337–344.

External links Pararistolochia enricoi – Tropicos - Catalogue of the Vascular Plants of Madagascar Media related to Aristolochia enricoi at Wikimedia Commons

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Pararistolochia enricoi

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Pararistolochia enricoi claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Pararistolochia enricoi before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Pararistolochia enricoi ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Pararistolochia enricoi

In research: Pararistolochia enricoi appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Pararistolochia enricoi in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Pararistolochia enricoi is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Aristolochiaceae, Endemic flora of Madagascar, Unplaced names, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Pararistolochia enricoi outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Pararistolochia enricoi in 20 minutes

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Frequently asked questions

What is Pararistolochia enricoi in simple terms?

Pararistolochia enricoi is an endemic Malagasy species of plant in the birthwort family, the only species belonging to the genus Pararistolochia within the island. Description The species is a climbing and ground-sprawling, deciduous vine or liana.

Why does Pararistolochia enricoi matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Pararistolochia enricoi?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Pararistolochia enricoi.