It was hard not to notice the large, distinct flowers of this plant as I walked along railroad tracks in southern Illinois. Native to eastern North America, this vine is often cultivated for its attractive, reddish orange flowers. It can escape cultivation, sometimes colonizing so densely it seems a nuisance, its habit has earned it the names Hellvine and Devil’s Shoestring.
Trumpet Vine’s rapid colonization by suckers and layering makes it useful for erosion control. Its magnificent flowers never fail to attract Ruby-throated Hummingbirds within its range. Adapted to eastern forests, Trumpet creeper grows tall with support. This plant climbs by means of aerial rootlets and can reach a height of up to 35 feet.
This plant’s three inch flowers are long, tubular and reddish-orange with a yellowish throat and bloom in the Summer for about three months. The flowers are followed by large seed pods. As these mature, they dry and split and hundreds of thin, brown, paper-like seeds are released.
Trumpet Vine’s habitat is bottomland forests, open woods, banks of streams and rivers, cliffs, pastures, old fields, fencerows, thickets, waste places, roadsides, railroads, and other disturbed areas. It is well-adapted for disturbed areas, and it is commonly seen growing on telephone poles along roadsides. or in this case, along train tracks.
Some people develop a skin rash after touching this plant, so another common name for it is “Cow-itch.”