Cardiospermum grandiflorumSw.

showy balloonvine

WFO wfo-0000587874 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Cardiospermum grandiflorum, photographed by Greg Tasney
fig. a Greg Tasney, CC BY-SA 4.0 / 2022-05-18 / obs. 198598056
Cardiospermum grandiflorum, photographed by Kevin Faccenda
fig. b Kevin Faccenda, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 197734304
Cardiospermum grandiflorum, photographed by Greg Tasney
fig. c Greg Tasney, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 192821899
Cardiospermum grandiflorum, photographed by Thomas Mesaglio
fig. d Thomas Mesaglio, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 192847800
Cardiospermum grandiflorum, photographed by Richard Fuller
fig. e Richard Fuller, CC0 1.0 / obs. 189997215
Cardiospermum grandiflorum, photographed by Greg Tasney
fig. f Greg Tasney, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 184785676
Cardiospermum grandiflorum, photographed by ronavery
fig. g ronavery, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 183681061
Cardiospermum grandiflorum, photographed by Greg Tasney
fig. h Greg Tasney, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 177524169

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 55 botanical countries

Regions where Cardiospermum grandiflorum is native: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Cabinda, Cameroon, Cape Provinces, Central African Republic, Congo, DR Congo, Eswatini, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Liberia, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Northern Provinces, Sierra Leone, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela AngolaBeninBotswanaCabindaCameroonCape ProvincesCentral African RepublicCongoDR CongoEswatiniGhanaGuineaIvory CoastKenyaKwaZulu-NatalLiberiaMalawiNamibiaNigeriaNorthern ProvincesSierra LeoneSudan-South SudanTanzaniaTogoUgandaZambiaZimbabweMexico CentralMexico GulfMexico NortheastMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestArgentina NortheastArgentina NorthwestBelizeBoliviaBrazil NorthBrazil NortheastBrazil SouthBrazil SoutheastBrazil West-CentralColombiaCosta RicaEcuadorEl SalvadorGuatemalaGuyanaHondurasJamaicaNicaraguaPanamáParaguayPeruUruguayVenezuela
Native distribution of Cardiospermum grandiflorum, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Angola ANG AFRICA
Benin BEN
Botswana BOT
Cabinda CAB
Cameroon CMN
Cape Provinces CPP
Central African Republic CAF
Congo CON
DR Congo ZAI
Eswatini SWZ
Ghana GHA
Guinea GUI
Ivory Coast IVO
Kenya KEN
KwaZulu-Natal NAT
Liberia LBR
Malawi MLW
Namibia NAM
Nigeria NGA
Northern Provinces TVL
Sierra Leone SIE
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Togo TOG
Uganda UGA
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM
Argentina Northeast AGE SOUTHERN AMERICA
Argentina Northwest AGW
Belize BLZ
Bolivia BOL
Brazil North BZN
Brazil Northeast BZE
Brazil South BZS
Brazil Southeast BZL
Brazil West-Central BZC
Colombia CLM
Costa Rica COS
Ecuador ECU
El Salvador ELS
Guatemala GUA
Guyana GUY
Honduras HON
Jamaica JAM
Nicaragua NIC
Panamá PAN
Paraguay PAR
Peru PER
Uruguay URU
Venezuela VEN
Mexico Central MXC NORTHERN AMERICA
Mexico Gulf MXG
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Southeast MXT
Mexico Southwest MXS

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Flowering 144 in flower of 225 examined

Peak flowering in Jun. Each bar is the share of Cardiospermum grandiflorum observations in which someone actually recorded the reproductive state and found the plant in flower, not the raw number of flowering records. That distinction matters: people observe plants far more in spring than in winter, so a bare count of flowering records partly measures when people go outside. Dividing by the number examined removes that. 144 of 225 examined observations were in flower, every one of them research grade. The whisker on each bar is a 95% Wilson interval. This is still a global aggregate and not a forecast for your garden: the same species flowers on different dates in different hemispheres. Where a species has fewer than 30 flowering records we do not draw this chart at all. Computed from 10.15468/dl.cgje2x.

Also published as 14 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Cardiospermum barbicaule Baker
  • Cardiospermum coluteoides Kunth
  • Cardiospermum duarteanum Cambess.
  • Cardiospermum elegans Kunth
  • Cardiospermum grandiflorum f. elegans (Kunth) Radlk.
  • Cardiospermum grandiflorum f. hirsutum (Willd.) Radlk.
  • Cardiospermum grandiflorum var. hirsutum Hiern
  • Cardiospermum hirsutum Willd.
  • Cardiospermum hispidum Kunth
  • Cardiospermum inflatum Vell.
  • Cardiospermum macrophyllum Kunth
  • Cardiospermum pilosum Vell.
  • Cardiospermum velutinum Hook. & Arn.
  • Cardiospermum vesicarum Humb.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.