Clematis hirsutissima
Clematis pitcheri
Douglas' clematis, hairy clematis, leatherflower, sugar bowls, vaseflower
bellflower clematis, bluebill, Pitcher's clematis, Pitcher's leather flower
erect, not viny, 1.5-6.5 dm, hirsute (sometimes sparsely so in var. hirsutissima) or densely short, soft-pubescent to nearly glabrous.
viny, to 4 m, very sparsely short-pilose, sometimes nearly glabrous.
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 mostly 1-2 pinnate, many leaves simple;
primary leaflets 2-8 plus additional tendril-like terminal leaflet, deeply 2-5-lobed or unlobed or 3-foliolate, leaflets or major lobes lanceolate to broadly ovate, 1-11 × 1-6 cm, leathery (thin in var. pitcheri), ± prominently reticulate adaxially;
surfaces abaxially nearly glabrous to densely pubescent, not glaucous.
terminal, flowers solitary.
axillary, 1-7-flowered.
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.
ovoid to urn-shaped;
sepals pale to dark bluish or reddish purple, sometimes whitish toward tip, ovate-lanceolate, 1.2-3(-4) cm (larger sepals mostly in w part of range), margins narrowly expanded distally to about 1 mm wide, thin, crispate toward tip, tomentose, tips acuminate, recurved, abaxially sparsely to densely appressed-puberulent.
bodies densely long-pubescent;
beak 4-9 cm, plumose.
bodies appressed-pubescent;
beak 1-3 cm, nearly glabrous to ± appressed-pubescent or silky.
Clematis hirsutissima
Clematis pitcheri
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.)
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).
Clematis pitcheri is highly variable, notably in the size and thickness of the leaflets, the external sepal color and internal color of the recurved tips, and the amount of pubescence of the beaks. Additional varieties might be recognized, as some authors have done in the past, but the extent of intergradation and the lack of correlation among varying traits tend to make recognition of additional varieties impractical (W. M. Dennis 1976). The two varieties recognized here show very extensive intergradation in the western part of the range of the species.
Although otherwise similar to Clemitis reticulata, C. pitcheri differs distinctly in its more coarsely reticulate leaves, with the smallest closed areoles mostly over 2 mm long, and its scarcely raised tertiary and quaternary veins.
(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 |
1. Leaflets mostly 4–11 cm, thin; stamens with filaments and extended connectives usually pubescent. | var. pitcheri |
1. Leaflets mostly 3–4 cm, somewhat leathery; stamens with filaments and extended connectives usually glabrous or nearly so. | var. dictyota |
OR
WA
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
IL Wildflowers
KS Wildflowers
MO Plants
