Solandra maxima

{{Speciesbox

|image = Starr_000501-1300_Solandra_maxima.jpg

|genus = Solandra

|species = maxima

|authority = (Sessé & Moc. ex Dunal) P.S.Green

|synonyms=Datura maxima Moc. & Sessé ex Dunal

}}

Solandra maxima is a flowering plant in the Solanaceae family.{{cite web

|url= https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:818078-1

|title= Solandra maxima (Moc. & Sessé ex Dunal) P.S.Green

|author=

|date=n.d.

|website=Plants of the World Online

|publisher=The Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

|access-date=July 12, 2020}}

It is also known as cup of gold vine, golden chalice vine, Copa de Oro, or Hawaiian lily, is a vigorous vine which is endemic to Mexico and Central America. It has very large yellow flowers and glossy leaves. It is often planted as an ornamental plant.

Description

It is a fast-growing, 12 m (40 ft) tall climbing vine (occasionally as much as 165 feet (fifty meters) in length{{cite book | last= Herklots | first= Geoffrey | date= 1976 | title= Flowering Tropical Climbers | location= Folkestone, England | publisher= William Dawson & Sons Ltd | page=172 }} ) , which is often pruned back in cultivation to a shrub with overhanging twigs. All parts of the plant are poisonous. The leaves are alternately arranged, broad-elliptical to oblong, 5-18 × 2-9 cm in size, leathery, glossy on top and usually short-acuminate.

=Flowers=

The funnel-shaped flowers are usually solitary. The calyx is 5-8 cm long, pentagonal and consists of three to five cusps. The corolla is 15-24 cm long and consists of large, rounded, 8-15 cm wide lobes. The flower is creamy white to light yellow at the start of flowering and changes color to ocher to orange during flowering. Violet or brown bands run deep into the flower tube across the center of the corolla. Five stamens protrude from the flower tube. The flowers open in the evening, exuding a pungent scent. This attracts bats as pollinators. The fruits are round, up to 7 cm large berries on which the sepals are preserved.

File:Solandra maxima flower.jpg

Image:CupOfGold1.JPG

Image:CupOfGold2.JPG

Image:Solandra maxima IMG 1811.JPG|Funchal: Botanical garden

Solandra maxima A.jpg|Gran Canaria

Solandra maxima 17zz.jpg|Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania

Solandra maxima by Scott Zona - 003.jpg|Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Miami, Florida

20210605 Hortus botanicus Leiden - Solandra maxima.jpg|Juvenile

Solandra maxima flower