Is the Trumpet Vine a Member of the Pea Family?
Trumpet vine (Campsis radicans) is in the Bignonia family, a family of mainly subtropical to tropical plants. Some of trumpet vine’s characteristics seem similar to those of the pea family, Fabaceae, specifically its long, podlike fruit, however it’s not a part of the pea family. Trumpet vine includes a vining habit and compound leaves, the two also traits of several pea family plants, however it differs from these in vital ways. Trumpet vine grows in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 6 through 10 and is deemed invasive in some places.
Plant Classification
Sensors are grouped together depending on how they’re related to one another. The clues plant scientists use for classification are primarily the fruits and flowers, although many other factors are significant, including chromosome number and the types of chemicals the plants have. Compare the blossoms and vegetables of trumpet vine and the yearly garden pea (Pisum sativum) to see how they differ.
Comparing Fruits and Flowers
Split open the flattened green pea pods of yearly sweet pea (Lathyrus odoratus) to observe the familiar round, green seeds. Open the curved pods of trumpet vine and you’re going to see many apartment, papery, winged seeds. Complicated pea flowers possess a big top petal, two side wing petals and two fused bottom keel petals which enclose the flower’s reproductive parts. Trumpet vine’s five petals fuse together to a tube with five petal lobes at the end. The flower’s stigma protrudes at the peak of the blossom and the stamens are deeper inside the floral tube.