THE PI.ANT WORLD 157 



The Cross-bearing Bignonia or Cross 



Vine. 



By Dr. J. Schneck. 



This bignoniaceous vnne is one of the most individually characteristic 

 plants found in the Wabash Valley. Linnaeus made two species of our 

 plant, naming one of them the Forked Bignonia {B. capreolata) , the 

 other the Cross-bearing Bignonia i^B. crucigera) . Later investigations 

 appear to have shown that there is but one species ; and as Bignonia 

 crucigera L. is the older name, it is to be adopted. 



This plant has long been in cultivation in Europe as an ornamental 

 vine in conservatories, and in the warmer parts of the Old World in the 

 open. It is highly prized and admired at some places on the continent 

 for its characteristic beauty and habits. Among the Germans it is known 

 as the Kreitztragende Big?ionie (Cross-bearing Bignonia), from the 

 peculiar cross-wise arrangement of the leaflets of the two compound 

 leaves (Figs. 1 and 2), as well as for the Greek cross-shaped marking 

 shown when the stem is cut across. When twisted in the hands it splits 

 along the line of these markings into four equal parts ; hence it is gen- 

 erally known as ' ' Quarter Vine ' ' in this vicinity by our bottom farmers 

 and timbermen. Many of the farmers and woodmen believe that this 

 plant possesses poisonous properties, and that a pernicious or mephitic 

 influence is given off from it into the surrounding atmosphere which 

 will affect persons unfavorably who may remain near the vine for some 

 time. 



After many years of familiarity with the plant in its native haunts, 

 and also in cultivation, where it has grown in my door-yard and been 

 frequently handled by many persons at all seasons and in all stages of 

 growth, I have not learned of an instance of any unpleasant or untoward 

 results. I do not believe the plant has any poisonous qualities. It has 

 been well tested as to its medicinal virtues, some parties claiming for it 

 alterative, sudorific, and diuretic properties ; other authors think they 

 have seen beneficial results from its use in the treatment of chronic 

 rheumatism and specific diseases, but it has not proven itself of any 

 clearly marked value in these conditions to the medical profession gen- 

 erally so far as I have been able to learn. It grows to greatest perfec- 

 tion in the rich woods of river bottoms, preferring alluvial soil, but away 

 from those lower places where the water stands for some time during the 

 summer season. It is a true climber. One may often see one or more 

 vines ascending the body of a tree in a straight line for sixty or more feet 



