Bignonia capreolata, Quarter vine, Crossvine, Trumpet Flower

Bignonia capreolata popularly known as Crossvine and occasionally trumpet flower is a beautiful semi-evergreen, climbing, woody, vine in the genus Bignonia which consists of about 28 and 95 species and belongs to the family of the Bignoniaceae (Trumpet-creeper Family). The common name, crossvine, is derived from the shape of the pith in the vine’s stem when viewed in cross-section. The genus name Bignonia was named by the French botanist, Joseph Pitton de Tournefort to honor his friend Abbe’ Jean-Paul Bignon. The species epithet capreolata comes from the Latin word meaning tendrils. The plant is native throughout the United States in the northeastern, north-central, south-central, and southeastern regions. It is found from southern Ontario, south to Florida, west to Texas, and Illinois. A few of the well-known common names of the plant are Quarter vine, Crossvine and Trumpet Flower.

Crossvine Facts

Plant Description

Crossvine is a beautiful, vigorous, semi-evergreen, perennial, climbing, woody vine that normally grows about 50 or more feet long and uses its tendrils to attach itself to trees or fences or through the tops of thickets. Tubers can grow to 10 cm in diameter. The stem is squarish and reddish-purple. The bark is grayish-brown and scaly. When cut in cross-section, the phloem forms a distinct “X” within the stem. The plant climbs by tendrils. The tips of the tendril have adhesive disks that allow the vine to attach itself to a tree or other available support such as a fence. The plant is found growing in fences, arbors, walls, pillars, or large trellises, as a groundcover, rich forests, swamps, along roadsides, fencerows, bottomland forests, floodplains, riverbanks, streamsides; less often in seasonally inundated swamps, wet thickets, and more mesic, upland forests. The plant prefers full sun and moist, acidic, well-drained soils for best flowering. It is adaptable to other soil conditions, including poorly drained soils, once established and it can do well in low light levels. It is drought tolerant. Crossvine can spread aggressively through stolons and may need to be managed in the garden or domestic settings.

Leaves

Leaves are semi-evergreen, opposite, pinnately compound, with two basal, leaflets with a branched tendril between the two leaves. Leaflets are 6-15 cm long, 2-7 cm wide and have smooth edges (entire), narrowly tapered tips (acuminate), and a notch at the base that makes them heart-shaped (cordate). The foliage turns from a lustrous green in the growing season to a reddish-purple in the winter. Buds are reddish-purple and less than 1 cm long.

Flowers

The flowers occur in clusters of two to five in the axils of the leaves. The flowers are trumpet-shaped have 5 irregular lobes, and are 4-5 cm long. Flowers are commonly orange on the outside and yellow on the inside; rarely the flowers are yellow or a deep orange-red on the outside. Flowering occurs from mid-spring to late summer. The flowers are pollinated by the ruby-throated hummingbird and ants are commonly seen stealing nectar from the flowers.

Fruit

Fertile flowers are followed by a pod-like woody seed capsule that is approximately 6 inches long and 1 inch wide which mature in late summer and persist into fall. Fruits are initially green turning to brown as they mature. Each capsule contains several rows of winged seed. Crossvine is often available from nurseries. Several horticultural selections are available with different colored flowers.

Traditional uses and benefits of Crossvine

• Native Americans used crossvine as a remedy for numerous health ailments.
• An infusion of leaves was used to purify blood.
• Decoctions of leaves were used for rheumatism.
• Decoctions of mashed bark were used to alleviate edema? and headaches.
• Individuals with diphtheria gargled a mashed root infusion.
• Leaf was used by the Cherokee as a blood purifier or alternative herb.
• The Koasati used the leaf for rheumatism and the bark was also used in baths as a remedy for headaches.

Other Facts

• The showy, fragrant flowers and unique leaves of crossvine make this plant appropriate for some gardening and landscaping needs.
• The tubular flowers and large quantities of nectar produced by crossvine are attractants for hummingbirds and butterflies.
• The best time to harvest crossvine seeds is in late summer when their pods have browned.
• Once harvested the seeds can be stored for planting at a later day.
• In the 18th century, it was considered to be a key ingredient in beer and other drinks that were used to purify the blood. There is no conclusive evidence of this.

References