Homestyle
Uncommon porana vine ideal for seasonal decoration

By Heide Bornhorst

Dear Heidi: There is a plant, a vine, I think, that is lovely and missed in our gardens. It has a sweet scent and we once used it for weddings.

I think the name is porana, pyrana, parana — something like the hungry fish. Do you know it or anything you can tell us garden lovers about it? A picture would be great ...

— Mrs. M., Wailuku

Dear Mrs. M.: I had not heard of this vine, but did some research and asked some old-time, knowledgeable gardeners and floral decorators about your inquiry. Here is what I found:

It is called the porana vine, Christmas vine or snow creeper. It is in the morning-glory family (Convolvulaceae) and is native to the subtropical region around India and Malaysia.

This large tropical vine can grow up to 60 feet tall.

This may be why we don't see it so much these days. Vines can overpower a small garden, take over a large tree and engulf power lines.

Most of the year the porana is a big vine with large, velvety green leaves.

In the fall and winter, porana flowers are a mass of tiny white, lightly fragrant flowers. This may be where the snow creeper name came from. To some people the mass of flowers resembles smoke.

Porana is the Javanese name for the plant. The scientific name is Poranopsis paniculata.

If you look closely at the flowers you can see that they look like individual morning glories. They make wonderful decorations for weddings and for the holidays.

The large leaves, which you will see on the vine most of the year, are arranged opposite to each other and can be shaped like a heart or an oval.

This is a plant which you need to look for in other gardens (big, wild ones would be my best guess).

You can ask your favorite garden shop to search for it or try landscape nurseries who seem to have a bit of everything tucked somewhere on their nursery.

If anyone knows of where to find a porana vine, I would appreciate a note.

You can send your note to Heidi Bornhorst, c/o The Honolulu Advertiser, P.O. Box 3110, Honolulu, HI 96802.

There is a picture of the porana vine in "Hawaiian Flowers and Tropical Trees" by Lorraine Kuck and Richard Tongg. This book has wonderful images of some of our rarely seen plants.

The book is out of print, but look for it at your community library.

Weissich and Rauch in their book "Plants for Tropical Landscapes: A Gardener's Guide" (in print and available at book and garden shops) recommend using it to cover a sturdy, large tree or as ground cover.

As with most flowering plants, full sun is best for maximum flowering.