32 Trumpet Flower. 



a red substance which they denominate chica, produced by 

 boiling the leaves of one species, called from this circumstance, 

 Bignonia Chica. This article was, some years ago, introdu- 

 ced into England, and recommended to the attention of dyers ; 

 but we believe that it did not prove of sufficient value to lead 

 to any important result. The shoots of another species are 

 employed by the Brazilians in the making of baskets, and 

 others form large trees, which afford material for timber and 

 for the manufacture of bows. The species B. radicans, 

 which the engraving represents, must be familiar to many of 

 our readers, under the name of " Trumpet Flower," or 

 " Trumpet Creeper." It is a native of the Southern and 

 Middle States, and is cultivated in New York and New Eng- 

 land. It frequently climbs to the height of forty or fifty feet, 

 and when covering, as it sometimes will, nearly the. whole 

 side of a house, with its deep green foliage and its large, 

 trumpet-shaped scarlet flowers, it presents a very splendid 

 appearance. The tendrils by which this plant supports itself 

 in such a position, are extremely strong and tenacious, and 

 often adhere to the wood, and penetrate between the clap- 

 boards with so firm a hold that it is almost impossible to tear 

 them away. The seeds are winged with a, beautifully reticu- 

 lated transparent membrane, resembling the wing of the large 

 Libellula, or Dragon Fly. 



Wherever the Trumpet Flower grows, there come the hum- 

 ming-birds, with whom it is a great favorite, and the delicate 

 little creatures sometimes bury themselves so deeply in the 

 large corolla, as to make it a trap for their capture. Indeed, 

 we will warrant any person of ordinary dexterity the possession 

 of one of these " flying gems," if he will watch for a few 

 hours on some clear August day near a Trumpet Creeper in 

 the country. 



This plant is known and cultivated in England under the 

 misnomer of " American Jasmine," and in France, as " Jas- 

 mine de Virginie." It is in England made the emblem of 

 separation, from the fanciful notion that it does not thrive 

 well without its guardian spirit, the humming-bird, which in 

 that "cold and cloudy clime," does not exist. We should 

 prefer it to signify here an entirely opposite sentiment. 



