Clematis hirsutissima |
Clematis virginiana |
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Douglas' clematis, hairy clematis, leatherflower, sugar bowls, vaseflower |
clématite de virginie, devil's darning needles, virgin's-bower, Virginia bower, Virginia virgin's-bower |
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Stems | erect, not viny, 1.5-6.5 dm, hirsute (sometimes sparsely so in var. hirsutissima) or densely short, soft-pubescent to nearly glabrous. |
climbing, 2-7 m. Leaf blade 3-foliolate; leaflets ovate to lanceolate, 3.5-9 × 1.5-7.5 cm, margins coarsely toothed to entire; surfaces abaxially sparsely to densely pilose, adaxially glabrate. |
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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. |
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Inflorescences | terminal, flowers solitary. |
axillary, 3-many-flowered simple or compound cymes. |
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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. |
unisexual; pedicel slender, 1-2 cm; sepals wide-spreading, not recurved, white to cream, elliptic or nearly oblong to oblanceolate, 6-14 mm, abaxially densely white-hairy, adaxially sparsely white-hairy; stamens ca. 30-50+; filaments glabrous; staminodes absent or fewer than stamens; pistils 40-70; beak nearly equaling sepals. |
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Achenes | bodies densely long-pubescent; beak 4-9 cm, plumose. |
ovate, 2.5-3.5 × l.5 mm, conspicously rimmed, sparsely short-hairy; beak 2.5-5 cm. |
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2n | = 16. |
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Clematis hirsutissima |
Clematis virginiana |
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Phenology | Flowering summer (Jun–Sep). | |||||
Habitat | Streamsides, wet roadsides, fencerows, and other moist, disturbed, wooded or open sites, locally abundant | |||||
Elevation | 0-1500 m (0-4900 ft) | |||||
Distribution |
AZ; CO; ID; MT; NE; NM; OK; OR; SD; UT; WA; WY
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AL; AR; CT; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; VA; VT; WI; WV; MB; NB; NS; ON; PE; QC
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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 virginiana is the most frequent and widespread virgin's-bower in eastern North America. It is easily distinguished from C. catesbyana by the presence of three ovate leaflets. Native Americans used infusions prepared from the roots of Clematis virginiana medicinally to treat kidney ailments, and mixed them with milkweed to heal backaches and venereal sores. Decoctions of stems were ingested to induce strange dreams. In addition, the plant was used as an ingredient in green corn medicine (D. E. Moerman 1986). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 3. | FNA vol. 3. | ||||
Parent taxa | Ranunculaceae > Clematis > subg. Viorna | Ranunculaceae > Clematis > subg. Clematis | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | Coriflora hirsutissima | C. canadensis, C. holosericea, C. missouriensis, C. virginiana var. missouriensis | ||||
Name authority | Pursh: Fl. Amer. Sept. 2: 385. (1814) | Linnaeus: Cent. Pl. I, 15. (1755) | ||||
Web links |