Skip to main content
Periploca graeca

Periploca graeca

9.9
A climbing shrub with dark shiny leaves, small smelly flowers, and poisonous yellow fruit
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : Periploca graeca
  • The Periploca graeca in our garden climbs beautifully over the archway each summer.

Examples

  • Gardeners appreciate Periploca graeca for its striking foliage and unusual flowers despite its unpleasant scent.

  • Caution is advised, as the fruits of Periploca graeca are poisonous if ingested.

  • The Periploca graeca is known for its unique climbing ability.

  • Many gardeners choose to plant Periploca graeca for its ornamental flowers.

  • Caution is advised, as the fruits of Periploca graeca are poisonous if ingested.

  • Gardeners appreciate Periploca graeca for its striking foliage and unusual flowers despite its unpleasant scent.

  • Many gardeners choose to plant Periploca graeca for its ornamental flowers.

Synonyms

silk vine
vsPeriploca graeca
  • UK
9.3

A climbing plant with dark shiny leaves and poisonous yellow fruits often grown in gardens

is the same plant but used as the formal botanical term

How Ornamental

ornamental
1 4.8
Periploca graeca
  • Specialized
9.9
garden plant
1 1.0
wild flower
1 1.3
weed
187 1.0

Surface Forms

Morphology

Periploca + graeca

This is a botanical Latin binomial combining the genus name 'Periploca' with the specific epithet 'graeca' (Latin for 'Greek' or 'from Greece'), so a learner who knows both parts could infer it denotes a Periploca associated with Greece. However, average B1 learners are unlikely to know Latin species‑naming conventions or the form 'graeca', and the name does not itself convey the plant's detailed properties, making the relation only partially transparent.

Etymology

Periploca graeca comes from Greek words: peri- meaning 'around' and ploca meaning 'twist', so it describes a plant that wraps around a support. The second word graeca means 'Greek', which helps you remember that this climbing shrub comes from Greece and nearby areas.