Flora of North America species comparison

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Clematis hirsutissima

Clematis bigelovii

Douglas' clematis, hairy clematis, leatherflower, sugar bowls, vaseflower

Bigelow's clematis, Bigelow's leather flower
Stems

erect, not viny, 1.5-6.5 dm, hirsute (sometimes sparsely so in var. hirsutissima) or densely short, soft-pubescent to nearly glabrous.

erect or sprawling, 0.1-0.6 m, short pubescent-pilose, sometimes sparsely so.
Leaf

blade 2-3-pinnate;

leaflets often deeply 2-several-lobed, if lobed than lateral lobes usually small and distinctly narrower than central portion, leaflets or lobes linear to lanceolate, 1-6 × 0.05-1.5 cm, thin, not prominently reticulate;

surfaces sparsely to densely silky-hirsute, not glaucous.

blade 1-2(-3)-pinnate;

primary leaflets 7-11, mostly deeply 2-several-lobed, leaflets and larger lobes mostly ovate, 0.8-3.5 × 0.5-1.5 cm (lateral lobes nearly as wide as central portion), thin, not prominently reticulate;

surfaces glabrous, somewhat glaucous.
Inflorescences

terminal, flowers solitary.

terminal, 1-flowered.
Flowers

broadly cylindric to urn-shaped;

sepals very dark violet-blue or rarely pink or white, oblong-lanceolate, 2.5-4.5 cm, margins narrowly expanded distally, 0.5-2 mm wide, thin, distally ± crisped, tomentose, tips obtuse to acute, slightly spreading, abaxially usually densely hirsute, occasionally moderately so.

broadly urn- to bell-shaped;

sepals purple, lanceolate, 1.5-3 cm, margins narrowly expanded distally to ca. 1 mm wide, thin, crispate, tomentose, tips acuminate, spreading, abaxially sparsely pubescent.
Achenes

bodies densely long-pubescent;

beak 4-9 cm, plumose.

bodies appressed-long-pubescent;

beak 2-3 cm, glabrous or inconspicuously appressed-pubescent, sparsely so toward tip.

Clematis hirsutissima

Clematis bigelovii
Phenology Flowering spring–fall.
Habitat Mountain slopes, moist sites in canyons
Elevation 1700-2400 m (5600-7900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CO; ID; MT; NE; NM; OK; OR; SD; UT; WA; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; NM
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

The varieties of Clematis hirsutissima, although highly dissimilar in their extreme forms, intergrade extensively in Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Clematis bigelovii is locally common and is restricted to New Mexico and a few sites in Arizona. Although usually grouped with C. hirsutissima because of its scarcely viny habit, this species appears to represent the extreme expression of clinal variation including C. pitcheri var. dictyota and, at the other extreme, eastern populations of C. pitcheri var. pitcheri; it might well be treated as C. pitcheri var. bigelovii (Torrey) B.L. Robinson.

Clematis palmeri Rose is represented by a small number of specimens from New Mexico and one from eastern Arizona, and its distinctness as a species has been questioned. The few published descriptions scarcely suffice to indicate its distinguishing features and are sometimes at variance with each other and with specimens so identified by R.O. Erickson (1943) or others. Almost all specimens were found where C. bigelovii was reported nearby. Pending further studies, it seems likely that C. palmeri comprises somewhat aberrant specimens of C. bigelovii, C. hirsutissima var. scottii, and/or C. pitcheri var. dictyota, perhaps also some herbarium sheets of flowering and fruiting material inadvertently collected from different species, and/or hybrids involving the species named above in one or more combinations.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Leaflets and lobes linear to narrowly lanceolate, 0.5–6(–10) mm wide.
var. hirsutissima
1. Leaflets and lobes narrowly to broadly lanceolate or ovate, 5–15 mm wide.
var. scottii
Source FNA vol. 3. FNA vol. 3.
Parent taxa Ranunculaceae > Clematis > subg. Viorna Ranunculaceae > Clematis > subg. Viorna
Sibling taxa
C. addisonii, C. albicoma, C. baldwinii, C. bigelovii, C. catesbyana, C. coactilis, C. columbiana, C. crispa, C. drummondii, C. fremontii, C. glaucophylla, C. lasiantha, C. ligusticifolia, C. morefieldii, C. occidentalis, C. ochroleuca, C. orientalis, C. pauciflora, C. pitcheri, C. recta, C. reticulata, C. socialis, C. tangutica, C. terniflora, C. texensis, C. versicolor, C. viorna, C. virginiana, C. vitalba, C. viticaulis, C. viticella
C. addisonii, C. albicoma, C. baldwinii, C. catesbyana, C. coactilis, C. columbiana, C. crispa, C. drummondii, C. fremontii, C. glaucophylla, C. hirsutissima, C. lasiantha, C. ligusticifolia, C. morefieldii, C. occidentalis, C. ochroleuca, C. orientalis, C. pauciflora, C. pitcheri, C. recta, C. reticulata, C. socialis, C. tangutica, C. terniflora, C. texensis, C. versicolor, C. viorna, C. virginiana, C. vitalba, C. viticaulis, C. viticella
Subordinate taxa
C. hirsutissima var. hirsutissima, C. hirsutissima var. scottii
Synonyms Coriflora hirsutissima
Name authority Pursh: Fl. Amer. Sept. 2: 385. (1814) Torrey: Pacif. Railr. Rep. 4(5): 61. 1857 ["1856"]
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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