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

Photo is of parent taxon

Douglas' clematis, hairy clematis, leather flower, sugar-bowls

Stems

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

generally simple, erect.

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: primary leaflets 7-13 or not distinctly differentiated;

leaflets and larger lobes narrowly linear to narrowly lanceolate, 1-6 cm × 0.5-6(-10)mm;

surfaces nearly glabrous to densely silky-hirsute.

Inflorescences

terminal, flowers solitary.

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.

Achenes

bodies densely long-pubescent;

beak 4-9 cm, plumose.

2n

= 16.

Clematis hirsutissima

Clematis hirsutissima var. hirsutissima

Phenology Flowering spring–summer.
Habitat Moist mountain meadows, prairies, and open woods and thickets
Elevation 700-3300 m (2300-10800 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CO; ID; MT; NE; NM; OK; OR; SD; UT; WA; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CO; ID; MT; NM; OR; UT; WA; WY
[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.)

Plants from the vicinity of Flagstaff, Coconino County, Arizona (and in post-1943 identifications, some from New Mexico), with the lobes of the leaflets ca. 1 mm wide, were recognized by R. O. Erickson (1943) as C. hirsutissima var. arizonica, but these scarcely appear to constitute a distinct taxon; some plants from Washington, Oregon, Colorado, and elsewhere have leaflets quite as narrowly lobed, and other plants in the Flagstaff area have more widely lobed leaflets. The widely spreading leaves allegedly characteristic of C. hirsutissima var. arizonica likewise occur elsewhere in the range of the species. Clematis hirsutissima var. hirsutissima, as circumscribed here, is highly variable in the density of leaf pubescence throughout most of its range.

(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 > Clematis hirsutissima
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. hirsutissima var. scottii
Subordinate taxa
C. hirsutissima var. hirsutissima, C. hirsutissima var. scottii
Synonyms Coriflora hirsutissima C. hirsutissima var. arizonica, Viorna arizonica, Viorna bakeri, Viorna eriophora, Viorna jonesii, Viorna wyethii
Name authority Pursh: Fl. Amer. Sept. 2: 385. (1814) unknown
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