158 'THE PLANT WORLD 



(see plate), holding on to its support by the trichotomous decompound 

 tendrils alone. The tendril arises from the top of the common petiole, 

 which is from one-half to one and one-half inches long, and bears at its 

 top the petiolules of the two compound leaves and one tendril. The 

 latter divides trichotomously several times, the ultimate tendrils finally 

 ending in minute disks, by means of which they anchor themselves to 

 any object with which they come in contact. The tendrils throughout 

 their length are capable of forming contracting spirals or of twisting 

 about anything they touch ; the vine is thus firmly attached whenever 

 it comes into contact with a tree, shrub, or underbrush. The tendril 

 always arises at the top of the common petiole on a level with the 

 leaves, but always on the lower or centripetal side. The two secondary 

 petioles, or petiolules, are about one inch long, and bear each two leaflets 

 which hang downwards and outwards and are arranged crosswise with 

 the vine, one pair of leaflets on the two sides of the ascending stem pro- 

 ducing a peculiar effect, which makes it look like a succession of crosses 

 standing above one another and gives this vine its peculiar characteristic 

 appearance when growing straight up the body of a tall tree. When tall 

 trees are absent or not in reach it will scramble over lower forms and 

 underbrush, but it prefers to go straight up to the sunlight. The 

 tendril, or one or both leaves, is often absent from the common 

 petiole. 



The flowers are borne in the axils of the common petioles and are 

 arranged in short cymes of one to five flowers. The flowers are about 

 two inches long, of a deep orange color outside and a bright yellow 

 within. The time of flowering is from May 3d to May 30th in this 

 latitude. The fruit is a flat pod from eight to fifteen inches long and 

 about one inch broad. 



Although this is a very free bloomer, it seldom bears fruit in the 

 Wabash Valley. Its principal means of increase is by an extensive system 

 of underground stems which are sent out from the main root into the 

 rich sandy soil and loam in all directions. These side branches take root 

 at frequent intervals and send up shoots from buds, which develop into 

 new plants that eventually sever their connection with the parent plant 

 by the decay of the old underground stem, so that one plant may become 

 the parent of an extensive group of plants covering an acre or more of 

 ground. The first leaves that form from the underground stems are 

 usually in twos only, one leaflet to each leaf, are more heart-shaped, and 

 are not accompanied by tendrils, as is the case when the plant is older. 

 Its habitat extends from Virginia south to Florida and Louisiana and 

 northward to Ohio, southern Indiana and Illinois. 



Its leaves are a dark shining green color in summer and remain fresh, 

 even in the northern extension of its range, during the greater portion 



