PHLOX FAMILY 



Stem. — Making twenty feet in a single summer; climbing by com- 

 pound tendrils at the apex of the pinnate leaves. 



Leaves. — Alternate, pinnately compound; leaflets two to three pairs, 

 oval, more or less eared; terminal leaflet often represented by a tendril. 



Flowers. — Bell-shaped, an inch and a half across, green at first, 

 finally pale violet or greenish-purple with protruding style and stamens. 



Calyx. — Large, persistent, leafy, five-lobed. 



Corolla. — Large, bell-shaped, with spreading five-lobed border. 



Stamens. — Five, protruding, inserted on the corolla-tube and all in- 

 clining to one side. 



Ovary. — Obovoid; style long, slender, declinate; stigma three-cleft. 



Cohwa is one of the most valuable of quick-growing vines. It 

 does not climb as the trumpet vine or the Virginia creeper, by 



means of aerial rootlets, but at 

 the apex of its pinnate leaves are 

 tendrils that catch quick and 

 hold fast. The fohage growth 

 is loose, irregular, and uncertain 

 in direction, but easily con- 

 trolled. The plant likes sunny 

 locations, yet will grow in partial 

 shade. The flowers are large, 

 slightly iregular bells, two inches 

 or more long and an inch and a 

 half across. 



The tendrils of Cobxa scan- 

 dens are forked and end in del- 

 icate branchlets, each bearing a 

 minute double hook at its tip. 

 The tendrils are flexible, a 

 breath of wind sways them about, and the little hooks will catch 

 hold of any slight irregularity, and, afterward, the tendril curls 

 around and makes the attachment permanent. 



A very interesting movement of spiral contraction occurs in ten- 

 drils after they have caught an object. At first they are straight, 

 with the exception of the extreme tip which is firmly curled around 



366 



Coboaa. Cohcea scdndens 



