A native of eastern India and Bangladesh, this vigorous twiner will grow 30ft (9 m) or more into the treetops, but can be trained over a post or stump and kept trimmed to a mound like form. A dense white down covers both young stems and leaf undersides. Tight clusters of trumpet-shaped bright lilac flowers about 2 in (5 cm) across on pedicels to 6 inches long appear among the foliage in spring and summer. In a tropical climate cultivation is simple, the plants making very vigorous growth in a sunny position in moist soil. In cooler climates they can be grown in a sunny conservatory, but due to their rampant growth will need frequent cutting back. We photographed this one in Barbados growing through a tree, absolutely covered in flowers.
