BIGNONIACEyE-BIGNONIA FAMILY 



TRUMPET FLOWER 



Ticoma radlcans. 

 Tecoma, an abridgment of the Mexican name Tecomaochitl. 



A perennial, ornamental, climbing shrub, native to western and south- 

 western United States; found in woodlands and fields. July to Sep- 

 tember. 



Stem. — Woody, climbing by aerial rootlets. 



Leaves. — Opposite, pinnately compound; leaflets seven to eleven, oval 

 to ovate-lanceolate, bilateral, coarsely toothed, acuminate, about two 

 inches long. 



Flowers. — Borne in terminal clusters, orange-red, trumpet-shaped, 

 with open spreading border; three to four inches long and an inch and a 

 half across. 



Calyx. — Thick, leathery, slightly curved, pale-yeUow, five-toothed. 



Corolla. — Trumpet -shaped, border of five rounded lobes, tube veined 

 within, nectar abundant; end of bud five-angled, the lobes of border 

 imbricate in bud. 



Stamens.— Fom, in two pairs, the fifth stamen aborted; anthers large, 

 versatile. 



Ovary.— Ohlong; style long, slender; stigma two-lobed. 



Capsule. — ^With flat, winged seeds. 



The Trumpet Flower is a general utility vine. It will adorn a 

 fence, cover a porch, climb a post, and supply foliage and flowers 

 to the dead trunk of a tree. It climbs by means of aerial rootlets 

 and the main stem holds fast and tight, but the light spray floats 

 free and the blooming clusters look out to the sunlight. The 

 blossoms are full of nectar and the humming-birds come for it in 

 numbers. 



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