302 THE DRAPERY OF VINES 



identified by its hairy, persistent stems that trail 

 low, and its three -divided leaf, in form suggesting 

 that of Poison Ivy, its cluster of purple -pink flowers 

 being less conspicuous than the pea-like pods that 

 follow them. 



Many a time have I gone to the haunt of 

 Maidenhair, Closed Gentian, or Gerardia, to find 

 the plants wholly choked by this Bean, which is 

 more mischievous than the Dodder, that winds its 

 coils of copper about marsh plants, without having 

 its merit of originality. 



The Trailing Wild Bean, on the other hand, 

 decorates what would be barren and unsightly banks 

 with little clusters of pink, flesh, or lilac -tinted 

 blossoms, held well above the handsome leaves on 

 straight, stiff stalks, which, from the wholly pros- 

 trate habit of the vine, appear like separate plants. 

 The long, slender pods, oftenest growing in groups 

 of three, are also quite ornamental. These two are 

 minor vines, almost ground -dwellers, so to speak, 

 akin to Vetches, Beach Peas, Trefoils, Bedstraws, 

 Jill -over -the -ground, Bearberry, Cranberry, Pyxie, 

 and a score of other trailing vines which, accord- 

 ing to the definition that " a vine is any plant 

 having a weak stem that reclines on the ground, 

 or rises by means of aerial rootlets, or by clasping 



