Trumpet Vine

Trumpet Vine (Trumpet Creeper)

Campis radicans

Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Lamiales
Family: Bignoniaceae
Genus: Campsis
Species: C. radicans

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trumpet_vine

Honey suckle

Recycle from 2008 (As of May 3, the patches are not as thick as the big-patch pictures, but are quickly headed that direction.)

It was with no small disappointment that I learned a few years back that the Honeysuckle is not regarded by many naturalists as a wonderful thing. At least not as it makes its home in more and more American woodlands.

As a kid I earned how to pull the pistil of the Honeysuckle out the back and trough the tube of the flower -- then touch a drop of watery nectar to my tongue. Wallah.. hidden honey.

Now I've learned that this plant (sometimes called Japanese Honeysuckle or by the Latin name "Lonicera japonica" is of Asian origin and has few natural predators. If left unchecked, it can choke out native species.

For more info:

http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/wildlife/resources/mgtplans/invasives.htm

http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/loja1.htm






Yellow Honeysuckle (Lonicera flava) (native varitey)

Wistera (American)

Wild hedge smothering

Ornamental

Wisteria (American Wisteria)

These are file photos from years past, however, I just saw the yearly avalanche of Wisteria that drape a hedge row near the junction of Interstate-430 and I-630 in Little Rock, AR (USA) -- and seem to hang around for a week before disappearing into a purple rain.

(Note: as obsrved now for several weeks, our Spring this year, 2010 is about a week behind the last several.)

As lovely as they are, the wisteria vine is not always welcome as it can smother trees and brush. Years ago I came across wisteria clusters that formed something of a Wisteria Falls, as clusters cascaded down a 40 foot tree.

Kingdom:Plantae

Division: Magnoliophyta

Class: Magnoliopsida

Order: Fabales

Family: Fabaceae

Subfamily: Faboideae

Tribe: Millettieae

Genus: Wisteria

Species: W. frutescens

Wisteria/Wickipedia

Guess what else is part of the Fabaceae family? (You may be suprised)

Yellow Jessamine

Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Gelsemiaceae
Genus: Gelsemium
Species: G. sempervirens

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Jessamine

The Yellow Jessamine, looks from a distance like forsythia on steroids. By the end of March (central Arkansas) this flowering vine is on display everywhere: Mailboxes, telephone poles, gates, trellises, and homes. It appears to share common characteristics with the trumpet vine and appears to be called Yellow trumpet - or Evening Trumpet -on occasion. (A quick survey of the net shows several flowers under the Yellow-Trumpet name.) As is, the Yellow Jessamine is the State flower of South Carolina. According to Wikipedia, the flower is toxic, and NOT something to suck like honeysuckle.