Tecoma

a genus of plants of the family Bignoniaceae. The trees or shrubs have odd-pinnate or, rarely, simple leaves. The large flowers have campanulate or tubular-funnelform corollas and are gathered into racemose or panicled inflorescences. The fruit is a capsule. There are about 16 species, distributed from Argentina to the West Indies, Florida, and Mexico. T. stans is widely cultivated as an ornamental shrub in countries having warm climates. Species of other closely related genera of the family Bignoniaceae are sometimes classified as Tecoma, especially those of the genus Campsis. The trumpet creeper (C. radicans)—a woody liana with aerial roots, large pinnate leaves, and bright-orange or scarlet flowers—is cultivated in the Crimea and other southern regions of European USSR, in the Caucasus, and in Middle Asia. The Chinese trumpet creeper (C. grandiflora) has few or no aerial roots; it is cultivated less frequently than the trumpet creeper.