Trumpet Creeper (Trumpet Vine)

Media
Illustration of trumpet creeper leaves, flowers, fruits.
Safety Concerns
Name
Skin irritating
Scientific Name
Campsis radicans
Family
Bignoniaceae (trumpet creepers)
Description

Trumpet creeper is an aggressive native woody vine with aerial rootlets on stems that become woody with age.

Flowers are tube-shaped in terminal clusters, 5-lobed, to 3 inches long, orange, red-orange, rarely all red. Blooms May–August.

Leaves are compound, with 6–10 opposite leaflets (plus one at the tip), ovate-lanceolate, coarsely toothed, with long points.

Fruits are podlike, woody, splitting open on each side, 2–6 inches long.

The structure of the flowers and elongated pods reflect trumpet creeper’s relationship to catalpa, which is in the same family.

Similar species: Cross vine (Bignonia capreolata) occurs natively in our Bootheel counties, growing in low, swampy bottomlands and in low thickets, fields, and fencerows. If you cut a stem crosswise, the pith is in the shape of a cross (hence the name). Recognize it by its flowers, which are red to orange on the outside and yellow on the inside. It can climb up to 70 feet with the help of its forked tendrils, and its foliage persists through most of winter. The opposite, compound leaves are trifoliate, with each leaflet tapering at both ends and having untoothed, but rather wavy margins. The fruits are podlike, much like trumpet creeper's.

Size

Stem length: to 60 feet.

Where To Find
image of Trumpet Creeper Trumpet Vine distribution map

Statewide.

Bottomland forests, open woods, banks of streams and rivers, cliffs, pastures, old fields, fencerows, thickets, waste places, roadsides, railroads, and other disturbed areas. Trumpet vine is well-adapted for disturbed areas, and it is commonly seen growing on telephone poles along roadsides. It is often cultivated for trellises and fences, but it can outcompete nearby vegetation and grow massive enough to collapse insufficiently supported structures.

Often cultivated as an ornamental vine, but because of its aggressive growth, it is best suited for areas where it will not overwhelm other plants. It requires a strong support. Some people develop a skin rash after touching this plant, so another common name for it is “cow-itch.”

The flowers of this plant are favored by hummingbirds, which cross-pollinate the flowers as they forage. The range of trumpet creeper nearly matches that of the ruby-throated hummingbird. The big clumps of these vines provide valuable cover for many birds and small mammals.

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About Trees, Shrubs and Woody Vines in Missouri
There are no sharp dividing lines between trees, shrubs, and woody vines, or even between woody and nonwoody plants. “Wood” is a type of tissue made of cellulose and lignin that many plants develop as they mature — whether they are “woody” or not. Trees are woody plants over 13 feet tall with a single trunk. Shrubs are less than 13 feet tall, with multiple stems. Vines require support or else sprawl over the ground.