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

Photo is of parent taxon

Scott's clematis

Stems

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

simple or branched, erect or ± sprawling.

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;

leaflets and larger lobes narrowly to broadly lanceolate or ovate, 1-6 cm × 5-15 mm, surfaces nearly glabrous to sparsely 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.

Clematis hirsutissima

Clematis hirsutissima var. scottii

Phenology Flowering spring–summer.
Habitat Dry to moist mountain meadows, thickets, and rocky slopes
Elevation 1500-3200 m (4900-10500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CO; ID; MT; NE; NM; OK; OR; SD; UT; WA; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CO; NE; NM; OK; SD; 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.)

The leaflets of Clematis hirsutissima var. scottii are usually more widely spaced than those of C. hirsutissima var. hirsutissima.

(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. hirsutissima
Subordinate taxa
C. hirsutissima var. hirsutissima, C. hirsutissima var. scottii
Synonyms Coriflora hirsutissima C. scottii, Viorna scottii
Name authority Pursh: Fl. Amer. Sept. 2: 385. (1814) (Porter) R. O. Erickson: Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 30: 47. (1943)
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