Eccremocarpus scaber Ruíz & Pavón
Eccremocarpus Ruíz & Pavón (1794), in the family Bignoniaceae, contains 5 species in South America.

Description Slender climbers to 4m or more, with clinging, branched tendrils. The leaves are opposite, deciduous, pinnate or
2-pinnate. The flowers are small, red, orange, yellow, or pinkish, tubular. Sepals 5, joined to form a tube. Petals 5, joined to form a tube, narrowed just below the mouth. Stamens 4, on the inside of the tube. Ovary superior, with 1 cell and numerous ovules; style 1,
2-lobed at the tip. Pollination is by hummingbirds. The fruits are
1-valved capsules with numerous small, flattened seeds with wings.

Key Recognition Features A delicate climber, woody only at the base, with pinnate leaves and tendrils and masses of small tubular flowers. The short, broad seed pods are unusual in the family.

Evolution and Relationships Eccremocarpus is unusual in the family by being almost herbaceous. Bignonia L. from eastern North America, southwards from Virginia, contains 1 species, B. capreolata L., which has 2 leaflets and branching tendrils ending in small pads; the flowers are reddish-orange, paler inside, tubular, and 2-lipped at the mouth.

Ecology and Geography In temperate forest Chile and Peru.

Comment Eccremocarpus scaber is the only species commonly cultivated; in frost-prone climates it may be grown from seed as an annual.