FIELD ID CHARACTERISTICS:
Distinctive paired leaves - compound leaves with two leaflets. When severed, the large vines of this species exhibit a large cross as the name implies.
Synonym(s): Anisostichus capreolata, Anisostichus crucigera
Description: Climbing, woody, semi-evergreen vine, which can reach great heights, climbing by branched tendrils.
Leaves: Pairs of opposite leaflets, oblong or elongated heart-shaped up to 15 cm long and 2 to 7 cm wide.
Flowers/Fruit: Showy, yellow and orange/red tubular flowers in early spring, forming fruit which is a long flattened bean-like capsule up to 15 cm long. Blooms April/May; fruits July/August.
Habit and Range: Swamps, moist woods, bottomlands and bay forests, usually in shady locations; chiefly Coastal Plain and Piedmont, infrequent in the Mountains.
COMMON CONFUSIONS:
Flowers of Bignonia capreolata (crossvine) are similar to Campsis radicans (trumpet creeper) but Bignonia capreolata flowers are more yellow on petals and bloom earlier. Bignonia capreolata leaves could also be confused with Gelsemium sempervirens (Carolina jessamine), which has thicker, glossy leaves with rounded bases, yellow flowers, and generally grows in sunny locations.
Click here to view Campsis radicans.
Click here to view Gelsemium sempervirens.
Link to side-by-side comparisons page
