Woolly Dutchman’s pipevine is a plant that always rises to the occasion.

A twining vine, this climber grows up onto other shrubs, trees, fences or anything that will give it a lift toward the sky. A humorist could say that if you stand still too long this plant will make its trek up you.

Described as a “liana,” which is a woody plant that can’t support its own weight and climbs or creeps over other plants or objects, woolly Dutchman’s pipevine can advance upwards of 30 feet above the ground. Wild grapes are another more familiar plant that is considered a liana.

Planted in the Felix Neck butterfly garden as a host for the swallowtail butterfly, woolly Dutchman’s pipevine has scrambled atop and around its floral neighbors and is now towering over the garden and has us considering an intervention. Too much of a good thing might just be too much.

While woolly Dutchman’s pipevine is not described as invasive, it can get a bit out of hand (especially my hands, which can’t reach much higher than five and a half feet). Nor is it native to New England, as it is not reportedly present in Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island or Vermont. A native of the central and southeast United States, woolly Dutchman’s pipevine was introduced in our state; though, according to the Native Plant Trust, having first been observed in 1957 in Franklin County, Mass.

It is an intriguing species and important for that aforementioned butterfly, which consumes wooly pipevine without harm, though many parts of the plant contain a poisonous substance that could kill other creatures—including humans. Woolly Dutchman’s pipevine contains aristolochic acid, a compound that is considered a carcinogen and, perhaps more importantly, a nephrotoxin that will cause irreversible renal failure if consumed by humans.

In a seemingly risky contradiction, this plant has also been used medicinally. Its scientific name, Aristolochia tomentosa, translates into best or good for childbirth, and this herb has been used to treat the pains of childbirth.

Woolly Dutchman’s pipe is a looker, with large heart-shaped leaves and round twining stems. Its flowers, which bloom in the spring, are the reason for its name, due to their resemblance to the European Meerschaum smoking pipe, though other sources suggest that the flowers more closely resemble a human fetus, thus aligning with its birthing association.  

These famous and understated flowers can be hidden by the plant’s giant leaves. Those flowers, however small, emit a strong odor that is attractive to flies and gnats that come to investigate the aroma. The scent has been described as foul as it is meant to mimic the smell of rotting carrion, though humans may or may not be able to detect it in the same ways as flies. Those petit pollinators then serve their plant master through fertilization assistance.

This pipevine propagates in three ways: through division of the main vine, root expansion in the soil or via the seeds that emerge in the fall—the same time that I will be Edward Scissorhanding the upwardly mobile masses of large leaves and vines. It will be an uphill battle, as the vines reach for the sky and I try to keep them grounded in reality.

Suzan Bellincampi is director of the Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary in Edgartown, and author of Martha’s Vineyard: A Field Guide to Island Nature and The Nature of Martha’s Vineyard.