Clematis hirsutissima
Clematis ligusticifolia
Douglas' clematis, hairy clematis, leatherflower, sugar bowls, vaseflower
creek clematis, hierba de chivo, old man's beard, pipestems, virgin's-bower, western clematis, western virgin's bower, western white clematis, white clematis, white virgin's-bower, wireweed
erect, not viny, 1.5-6.5 dm, hirsute (sometimes sparsely so in var. hirsutissima) or densely short, soft-pubescent to nearly glabrous.
clambering or climbing, to 6(-20) m. Leaf blade pinnately 5-foliolate or 2-pinnate and 9-15-foliolate, somewhat succulent;
leaflets lanceolate to broadly ovate, lobed or unlobed, (1-)3-9 × 0.9-7.2 cm, margins entire or variously toothed;
surfaces abaxially glabrous or sparsely pilose or silky, especially on veins; ultimate venation obscure.
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.
terminal, flowers solitary.
axillary, usually 7-20(-65)-flowered compound cymes, often distinctly corymbiform, flowers crowded.
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.
unisexual;
pedicel slender, 0.5-3 cm;
sepals wide-spreading, not recurved, white to cream, obovate to oblanceolate, 6-10 mm, abaxially and adaxially pilose;
stamens 25-50;
staminodes absent or fewer than stamens;
pistils 25-65.
bodies densely long-pubescent;
beak 4-9 cm, plumose.
elliptic, 3-3.5 × ca. 1.5 mm, prominently rimmed, silky;
beak 3-3.5 cm.
= 16.
Clematis hirsutissima
Clematis ligusticifolia
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 ligusticifolia is the common virgin's-bower in the western United States and Canada. In California it might hybridize with C. lasiantha. In Mexico it is found only in the extreme north; it is probably related to the Mexican and Central American species, C.grossa Bentham.
The name Clematis neomexicana has been applied to the populations with crenate leaflets in New Mexico and northern Chihuahua. This distinction is tenuous, however, given the wide variation present in leaflet margins within this and other species in Clematis subg. Clematis.
Two varieties of Clematis ligusticifolia have been weakly distinguished based on the presence or absence of 2-pinnate leaves.
Infusions prepared from the plants of Clematis ligusticifolia were used medicinally by Native Americans as a wash for skin eruptions, a lotion for backaches or swollen limbs, and a lotion to protect one against witches; stems and leaves were chewed to treat colds and sore throats; decoctions of leaves were also used as a wash and for stomachaches and cramps; and lathers of leaves were used to treat boils on humans and on animals (D. E. Moerman 1986).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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 |
OR
WA
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
BC
CA
SW CO Wildflowers
