Plants 4 Bees :: Bignoniaceae :: Photo_of_Campsis_radicans

Campsis radicans

Scientific name	:	Campsis radicans
Synonyms	:	Bignonia radicans, Tecoma radicans
Origin	:	The species is native to the area from PA to FL, west to TX, MO and IL[7], but is cultivated in many other parts of the U.S. and southern Canada as an ornamental.
Description	:	Trumpet creeper is a twining, climbing, sprawling vine that grows to 40 ft and probably more. The stem is light brown with root-like holdfasts (aerial rootlets) between the nodes. The 6 to 15 inch long, pinnately compound leaves are placed oppositely and are composed of 7 to11 leaflets that range from 0.75 to 4 inches in length. The leaflets are lustrous dark green above, light green and pubescent, at least on the major veins, beneath. Viewed from above, the veins are sunken beneath the leaflet surface (impressed). As many of the common names suggest, the flowers are trumpet shaped. They come in a variety of colors that range from yellow through oranges to reds and are usually borne in tight clusters of 4 to 12 buds and flowers. They range from 2.5 inches to 3 inches in length, and usually are approximately 1.5 inches wide at the mouth, which is ringed with large triangular petal-like structures. The 3 to 5 inch long fruits are pod shaped, and are filled with numerous flattened seeds that have two large transparent wings.
Distribution	:	In addition to the U. S. distribution, the plant can most certainly be found in some of the warmer parts of Canada. Dirr[3] considers the species to be a zone 4 to 9 plant. It is most commonly found in thickets, wastelands, along railroads and roadsides, in fencerows and in disturbed sites[17].
Blooming period	:	The species blooms over a fairly long period of the summer. At The Morton Arboretum its peak blooming period is from mid July to mid August[7]. In Athens, GA it blooms from June to September[3]. In Boston, it starts blooming in Mid July[20].
Importance	:	Trumpet creeper is one of those plants, that despite the fact that it secretes copious amounts of nectar, has had little mention made of it in the American beekeeping literature. Pellett[14] provides the information that while the flowers secrete much nectar, the bees sometimes can’t reach it. He adds that bumble bees sometimes cut holes in the flowers, and honeybees are quick to take advantage of the easy access to the nectar. He concludes that it is doubtful that the plant is of any importance to commercial beekeeping. Sanborn and Scholl[15] come to similar conclusions, but add that the plant has external nectar glands, but do not provide the location of those glands. They also provide the information that bees collect pollen from the flowers. Milum[6] also reported holes being cut near the base of the flower by insects other than honey bees through which honey bees acquired nectar. He also reports extrafloral nectaries on the calyx and seems to indicate that they are also a source of nectar for honey bees. Milum places trumpet creeper in his tertiary or minor plant category, which he describes as plants that bees visit for both nectar and pollen, but that the quantity of nectar is either small, or the plant is not plentiful in the state. Oertel[12] reports from his questionnaires that the species is of some importance in Louisiana. Pammel and King[13] say only that the bees collect pollen from the flowers. To this I add, trumpet creeper, at least at times, produces a prodigious amount of nectar. You could sweeten your cereal in the morning with the nectar from only a few flowers. My experience tends to indicate that sometimes the bees work the flowers in great earnest, and sometimes they don’t. On the Michigan State University campus there is a planting of the species on a chain-link fence, which during full bloom has always buzzed with bees when I have visited it. In these instances the bees were not working holes cut by other insects, and they were foraging for more than pollen. All of this occurred despite the fact that the Michigan State University Horticultural Gardens are located just across the street from the trumpet creeper planting. On the other hand, I have two trumpet creeper vines on trellises on my back porch, which while producing many flowers, seem to be relatively unattractive to honey bees. I speculate that either some plants produce sufficient nectar so that it fills the nectar tube sufficiently that it can be reached by bees, or that some plants have sufficiently large diameter nectar tubes that allow the bees too reach the nectar.
Honey	:	While I have found no information about the honey from trumpet creeper, the nectar, while quite sweet, to me has an unpleasant taste, and I wonder if that taste would be concentrated during the evaporative production of the honey or would it be dissipated during the curing process.
Pollen	:	Both Pammel and King[13 ] and Milum[6] report bees collecting pollen from the species.
Additional information	:	If you are interested in a honey plant garden and you have something on which trumpet creeper can crawl, such as a fence or a large trellis, or you have something you want to cover, a stone pile for example, trumpet creeper might be something you would like. I hasten to temper this statement by also providing the information that it will climb over anything, that it suckers profusely and requires frequent pruning to keep it in check, and that it tends to become weedy and invasive under some circumstances. The species is exceptionally easy to grow. If you can’t grow trumpet creeper, you should give up gardening. It roots very easily. The vines on my back porch were nothing more than sticks pruned from another vine that were stuck in the ground and watered occasionally. The plant can also be started from seed. Two months of cold stratification benefits their germination. The plant has some toxic properties, including sometimes producing a dermatitis[17]. As an added attraction, the species is also attractive to hawk moths and hummingbirds. Cultivars of the species are available commercially.
Reference	:	1. Barnes, B. V., W. H. Wagner.1981. Michigan Trees. The University of Michigan Press. Ann Arbor. 2. Burgett, D. M., B. A. Stringer and L. D. Johnston. 1989. Nectar and Pollen Plants of Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. Honeystone Press. Blodgett, OR. 3. Dirr, M. A. 1998. Manual of Woody Landscape Plants. Stipes Publishing L.L.C. Champaign, IL. 4. Larsson, H. C. and R. Shuel. 1992. Nectar Trees, Shrubs and Herbs of Ontario. (C. D. Scott-Dupree, Ed.). Publication 82. Ontario Minister of Agriculture and Food. 5. Lovell, J. 1926. Honey Plants of North America. A. I. Root Co. Medina, OH. 6. Milum, V. G. 1957. Illinois Honey and Pollen Plants. Contributions from the Department of Horticulture, University of Illinois, Urbana IL. 7. Morton Arboretum Staff. 1990. Woody Plants of The Morton Arboretum. The Morton Arboretum. Lisle, IL. 8. Morton, J. A. 1964. Honeybee plants of South Florida. Proceedings, Florida State Horicultural Society 77:415-436. 9. Morton, J. F. 1981. 500 Plants of South Florida. Fairchild Tropical Garden. Miami, Florida. 10. Nye, W. P. 1971. Nectar and Pollen Plants of Utah. Utah State University Monograph Series, Volume XVIII, Number 3. Utah State University Press. Logan, UT. 11. Oertel, E. 1938. Untitled comments. American Bee Journal 78:403. 12. Oertel, E. 1939. Honey and Pollen Plants of the United States (U. S. D. A. Circular 554) U. S. Government Printing Office. Washington D. C. 13. Pammel, L. H. and C. M. King. 1930. Honey Plants of Iowa. Iowa Geological Survey Bulletin No. 7. Iowa Geological Survey, State of Iowa. Des Moines. 14. Pellett, F. C. 1978. American Honey Plants. Dadant and Sons, Hamilton, IL. 15. Sanborn, C. E. and E. E. Scholl. 1908. Texas Honey Plants. Bulletin No. 102, Texas Agricultural Experiment Stations. College Station. Texas. 16. Schiller, Dr. J. 1938. The Catalpa Tree as a two-Fold Nectar Source. American Bee Journal 78:329-320. 17. USDA, NRCS. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA 18. Vansell, G. H. 1949. Pollen and Nectar Plants of Utah. Circular 124, Agricultural Experiment Station, Utah Agricultural College. 19. Watkins, J. V. and T. J. Sheehan. 1975 Florida Landscape Plants--Native and exotic.(Revised edition). The University Presses of Florida. Gainesville, FL. 20. Wyman, D. 1950. Order of Bloom. Arnoldia 10(7-8):41-56.