Native Plants

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Friday - April 03, 2009

From: Pineland, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Vines
Title: Identify red-flowering vine in E. Texas
Answered by: Jackie OKeefe

QUESTION:

Beside a well on an old homestead in Deep East Texas, there is a delicate vine. The leaves are heart shaped with points all the way around. The flower is a bright red trumpet shaped. I saw an angel vine which had similar flowers, but the leaves were frilly and fern like.

ANSWER:

The mission of the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center centers on the native plants of North America. A search of our database for red-flowering vines native to Texas only turns up a few possibilities, none of which match your description.

The vine you describe sounds very attractive, but to make a positive identification, more information would be useful. If you can send a photo or photos, we are better able to help you. A picture IS worth a thousand words and colloquial names, which vary widely region-to-region, are unreliable. Hazarding a guess — delicate vine, flowers red and trumpet-shaped and a similar vine with fernlike leaves — maybe this is Quamoclit sloteri, Cardinal Climber. It is a descendant of the feathery-leaved Ipomoea quamoclit, Cypress Vine, and Ipomoea coccinea, Scarlet Creeper. ...But this guess could be totally in left field, so please send pictures. Go to: Instructions for submitting a photo for guidance on sending photos to us.