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Everyone seems to like the winecup. This Texas native is a favorite along highway rights-of-way and on wildflower trails, as well as in home gardens.
The showy red-purple blossoms appear during mid-spring and into early summer. True to their name, from the side the flowers look like a goblet filled to the brim with red wine. The flowers are typical of the mallow family, with five wide petals surrounding a column of multiple yellow stamens. Leaves are deeply lobed with five to seven narrowly digitate segments.
The most common winecup species is Callirhoe involucrata, which is widespread all across Texas, except in the far- northeastern and the far-western parts of the state. This is the species commonly grown in gardens of our area. It is a sprawling plant, usually under a foot tall, with trailing stems up to 18 inches long. Its trumpet-like root tuber ensures it to be a drought-resistant and faithful perennial. Some gardeners use this winecup as a groundcover. A variety of this species has pure white or white with purple-striped petals.
Two other species of winecup grow on the Edwards Plateau, C. pedata and C. leiocarpa, both of which are called standing winecup. These almost-identical species are erect plants, one to three feet tall. C. pedata has a thickened taproot and is a perennial. The other species is an annual.
Winecups tolerate a variety of soil types, but prefer soils that are well drained. They grow in dappled shade to full sun.
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**ARCHIVED POST AUTHOR: ward
