286 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE FARM 



the climbing roses and honeysuckles, 

 of the scarlet trumpet-vine, of the 

 virgin's-bower, of the morning-glory 

 and the sweet pea. Most of these 

 are fragrant as well as beautiful. 

 Fragrant also are the less conspicu- 

 ous flowers of the wild grape, the 

 climbing hemp (Mikania scandens) 

 of the marshes, and the apios. 



Vines are plants that cannot stand 

 alone. They must have some sup- 

 port to hang or lean upon. They 

 vary in size from the wild grape that 

 revels in the tops of the great trees 

 of the forest, to the little cranberry 

 that trails over the surface of the 



Fig. 120. A spray of wild grape. . 



bog. They vary m strength from 

 the wiry rattans to the succulent cucurbits. Some of them 

 are possessed of special climbing apparatus; more of them 

 sustain themselves by twining about their supports; some 

 of the lesser herbaceous sorts maintain their position merely 

 by leaning — resting their elbows, so to speak — upon their 

 neighbors. All of them are long of reach and rapid of 



Fig. 121. Virginia creeper or " woodbine" 



