This week for Flora and Fauna Friday we have a twiney vine found in fallow fields and brushy thickets, Hairy Clustervine (Jacquemontia tamnifolia).
Hairy Clustervine is found throughout the coastal plain of the Southeastern United States. It’s a low growing, herbaceous, and annual species from the Morning-Glory family, Convolvulaceae. It has heart shaped-leaves and almost the entire plant is covered in a coat of fine hair. The most notable feature of Hairy Clustervine is a namesake hairy cluster it produces composed of the flower buds and seed pods. This cluster is about an inch to inch-and-a-half wide and it’s bursting with thin, twisted bracts and downy hairs. From the cluster’s margins spring forth pastel-indigo flowers, each less than a half-inch across, and usually two or three at a time. As the seasons wear on, the flowers stop but these clusters brown and remain over winter as a reminder of the plant’s presence. Hairy Clustervine is most easily spotted growing in fallow fields over the top of grass and forbs but it is also a common site in roadsides, ditch edges, and sunny wood-lines.