TRUMPETCREEPER 



Bignonia radicans Linnaeus 



Trumpetcreeper is a hardy vine with strong growth, and with 

 gaudy red or orange flowers clustered at the ends of long, graceful 

 stems. If it has an opportunity it clings by means of aerial roots to a 

 supporting neighbor, and frequently it climbs to the tops of tall trees. 

 If no support is available it is satisfied to grow in moist fields, or on 

 neglected roadsides. It is especially beloved by humming birds, which 

 poise below the blossoms and thrust their long, slender bills into the 

 trumpets to reach the nectar glands at the base. Audubon, in painting 

 the ruby-throat, shows the bird with this flower. The trumpetcreeper 

 belongs to the Bignonia Family, whose name was given by Linnaeus 

 in honor of Abbe Bignon, librarian to Louis XV. The genus, as re- 

 stricted by some authors, contains but two known species, the other 

 being a native of Japan. The crossvine of the Southern States is a near 

 relative. The Bignonia Family is a large one, but most of its repre- 

 sentatives are confined to the tropics. 



Trumpetcreeper ranges from Florida and Texas northward to 

 southern New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Iowa. 



The specimen sketched was found near Washington, District 

 of Columbia. 



PLATE 2.2-7 



