Sandpaper Vine

Description:

Native to the West Indies and from Mexico to Panama, Queen’s wreath (or purple wreath) is a fast-growing, twining, woody vine or rounded shrub that produces wisteria-like erect to drooping axillary foot-long racemes of star-like purple flowers (15-30 flowers per raceme) in late spring to early summer. The showy parts of each flower are the 5 narrow petal-like calyx lobes which persist long after the darker purple corollas drop. Oblong-elliptic, dark green leaves (4-9” long) are rough above, hence the sometimes common name of sandpaper vine.