334 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



October 



of Tennessee." But the curator of 

 the Herbarium at the Missouri Botan- 

 ical Gardens in St. Louis, Mr. J. M. 

 Greenman, says they have one speci- 

 men of Gonolobus in their museum, 

 from Knoxville, Tenn. It is probably 

 sporadic in the State; in fact, we 

 should expect that it would not thrive 

 save possibly along the western line, 

 near the Mississippi River lands. 



In Indiana it has been found grow- 

 ing as far north as Knox County, 

 along the Wabash and White Rivers, 

 and the tributary streams there. One 

 specimen has been sent in from Jack- 

 son County, Indiana, but the plant 

 never spreads there, for the land is 

 hilly and unfavorable to the growth 

 of the vine, in the vicinity of Browns- 

 town, where the one specimen was 

 found. It is in the counties of Gib- 

 son, Posey and Vanderburg, in 

 southwestern Indiana, and in the 

 counties of southeastern Illinois and 

 northern Kentucky, across the Ohio 

 and Wabash Rivers, that the over- 

 flow lands offer ideal soil condition 

 for rampant growth. The plant has 

 been reported from Wabash County, 

 Illinois, bordering on the Mississippi 

 River, from Pulaski County, from 

 Pope and Pike Counties in the ex- 

 treme southern part of the State. 



West of the Mississippi River it is 

 reported in Missouri at St. Louis, at 

 Columbia on the Missouri River, and 

 at Courtney, Alba and Harlan. It is 

 reported at Webb City and Orange, in 

 the extreme southwestern part of the 

 State. Oklahoma reports it from 

 Kay and Harmon Counties, bordering 

 on the soutl 2rn line of Kansas. The 

 writer has found it reported only at 

 Hot Springs, Arkansas, but it is prob- 

 ably found elsewhere in the State. In 

 Texas it is found very common in 

 Austin and eastward, generally on 

 low ground, only occasionally on hill- 

 sides. Specimens of Gonolobus lae- 

 vis also are found at Granbury, Tex. 

 Other species of the plant are report- 

 ed in Texas as far west as Limpia 

 Canyon, in the Trans-Pecos region. 



It has been found in New Orleans, 

 La., along the Mississippi river, and 

 at Alexandria on the Red River. In 

 Georgia it has been seen growing at 

 Saffold, on the Chattahoochee River, 

 and in Florida in the Duval, in the 

 northeastern portion of the State. 

 * t- * * 



A glance at the accompanying map 

 may make the extent of the growth 

 of Gonolobus more clear to the eye 

 geographically. 



It is at once apparent that the vin- 

 ing milkweed is native to the south 

 central portion of the middle west, 

 that it is at home on fresh water low- 

 lands ; that it is not coastal, but loves 

 inland rivers and lakes, but not the 

 sea. It is als'o clear that its appear- 

 ance in rugged, hilly sections is ex- 

 ceptional, and that on such soil it has 

 no tenacious hold and, finally, that its 

 real habitat is in rich, black loam, 

 especially such as is subject to inun- 

 dation. One feature is most sug- 

 gestive, for a careful study of the 

 river courses along which its growth 

 is recorded reveals the fact that the 

 water courses are the Mississippi 

 River and the streams that are tribu- 

 tary or ultimately tributary to the 

 Mississippi. For example, the Kana- 

 wha River in West Virginia flows 

 into the Ohio and the Ohio into the 

 Mississippi; the Miami River in Ohio, 

 the Kentucky River in Kentucky, the 

 Wabash between Indiana and Illinois, 

 the Missouri River in Missouri and 

 the Red River in Texas and Louisiana 

 are all tributary to the Mississippi. 

 It looks as if the limits of the native 

 haunts of G. laevis were almost iden- 

 tical with the boundaries of the 

 "Father of Waters" and his far-flung 

 tributary streams. A few other speci- 

 mens of Gonolobus so far reported 

 may possibly be taken as occasional 

 or accidental. However, the geogra- 

 phy of the region covered by the 

 plant is certainly full of suggestion. 

 Commercial Importance 



The s'oil of the overflow lands al- 

 ready mentioned in southwestern In- 



Hlucviiic or climbing inilkwct'i 



diana is undoubtedly the one place 

 suited above all others to the devel- 

 opment of the vining milkweed. The 

 cornfields of that region, thousands 

 of acres, forming an almost unbroken 

 sea of green, are especially favorable 

 to the growth of the vine. It not only 

 needs wet ground for its best growth, 

 but it needs wet weather as well, 

 though it blossoms best in dry 

 weather. In wet seasons, when the 

 corn is difficult to till, the vine grows 

 and thrives, seeming to laugh its de- 

 fiance in the faces of the baffled 

 planters. So rapid is its growth that 

 even after the corn is laid by, in 

 May or early June, the vine can still 

 attain maturity by the middle of July. 

 So dense is its growth in favorable 

 soil that, to use a phrase often heard 

 in those parts, "If you take hold of 

 one corn stalk, you can shake every 

 stalk in the field." The sprawling 

 vines cover the tops of the cornfield, 

 fairly forming a carpet of dark green 

 leaves above the sagging corn. 



The Name 



The botanists call it sand vine or 

 Enslen's vine. The local nomencla- 

 ture is vastly more rich and varied. 

 Some call it dry weather vine, others 

 devil's shoestring, others blue vine. 

 Occasionally, by confusion, it is 

 termed wild cucumber, but the latter 

 is an error. Finally, the name wild 

 sweet potato vine is heard. No guar- 

 antee is here given that even this 

 goodly list of vernacular names is 

 complete. 



Previous to the spring of 1918 the 

 writer could not learn the correct 

 name of the plant from even those 

 beemen who knew the value of the 

 plant as a honey producer. None 

 seemed able to identify the plant, and 

 few beekeepers outside of its densest 

 growth ever dreamed that it was 

 valuable as a honey plant. Occasion- 

 ally short notices of it would appear 

 in the Bee Journal. In the Spring of 

 1918 the Department of Agriculture 

 at Washington identified the vine as 

 the Gonolobus laevis, or vining milk- 

 weed. 



The Yield 



Small though the blossoms are, 

 they are extremely rich in nectar 

 under proper weather conditions. Dry 

 weather during blossoming time is 

 absolutely essential to nectar secre- 

 tion from Gonolobus. Then the nec- 

 tar is secreted so copiously that it 

 seems impossible for any number of 

 colonies to overstock a location. A 

 hard rain after blooming is well 

 started, ends nectar secretiop for that 

 season; at least subsequent yields are 

 small in comparison. Hence, the local 

 name "Dry Weather Vine." The 

 name blue vine is undoubtedly sug- 

 gested by the tiny bluish flowerlets. 

 It is easy to guess who gave the name 

 devil's shoe string. Let the weather 

 hold hot and dry and the bees roam 

 amid the blossoms from early morn 

 until late at night. A daily gain of 

 four pounds has been recorded on a 

 hive scale for a period of 15 consecu- 

 tive days during the summer of 1919. 

 One beekeeper secured a yield of 75 

 pounds per colony from 60 colonies in 

 five weeks time. It is a very sure 



