FIELD ID CHARACTERISTICS:
Vine is flaky, tan-colored, with holdfasts, becoming ridged or folded inward with age. Elongated capsule fruits with winged seeds are distinctive. Toxic if eaten.
Synonym(s): Bignonia radicans, Tecoma radicans
Description: Deciduous, climbing or sprawling, trailing, woody vine. Trumpet creeper climbs via aerial roots (holdfasts) in double rows on stems and does not have tendrils.
Leaves: Opposite, pinnately compound leaves with 7 to 11 toothed leaflets, usually up to 4 to 8 cm long. Compound leaves up to 30 cm long.
Flowers/Fruit: Terminal cluster of 2 to 9 showy red "trumpet" flowers with 5 lobes at the end of the tube later forming brown capsule with winged seeds. Blooms June/July; fruits September/October.
Habit and Range: Forested wetlands, moist uplands, old fields, fence rows, waste places, throughout North Carolina.
COMMON CONFUSIONS:
Leaves of Campsis radicans (trumpet creeper appear similar to Nekemias arborea (peppervine), but Campsis radicans has larger leaves and produces seed capsules instead of berries. Leaves of Campsis radicans are also similar to Wisteria spp. which have wavy-margined leaves and vines with no holdfasts. Flowers of Campsis radicans are similar to Bignonia capreolata (crossvine) but are more red and bloom later.
Click here to view Nekemias arborea.
Click here to view Bignonia capreolata.
Link to side-by-side comparisons page
