Flora of North America species comparison

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Clematis occidentalis

Clematis coactilis

blue clematis, clématite occidentale, Columbia bower, Columbia clematis, Columbia virgin's bower, purple clematis, purple virgin's-bower, rock clematis, western blue clematis, western blue virginsbower, western clematis

Virginia whitehair leather flower
Stems

viny, climbing or trailing (plants scarcely viny perennials in var. dissecta).

erect, not viny, 2-4.5 dm, densely silky, hirsute, or ± tomentose with appressed hairs.
Leaves

blade 1-ternate (or terminal leaflet sometimes ternate in var. dissecta), ± firm but not succulent;

leaflets lance-ovate to triangular or suborbiculate, lobed or unlobed, margins entire or toothed.

blade rarely 1-pinnate, narrowly to broadly ovate, unlobed or sometimes few-lobed, 5-12 × 3-9.5 cm, leathery, ± prominently reticulate adaxially;

surfaces abaxially densely silky-tomentose with appressed hairs, not glaucous.
Inflorescences

terminal, flowers solitary;

bracts absent.
Flowers

sepals violet-blue, reddish violet, or white, lanceolate to ovate or elliptic-oblong.

broadly urn-shaped;

sepals pale yellow to rarely purple-tinged, lanceolate, 1.9-3.4 cm, margins not expanded or narrowly expanded to 1.7 mm wide, thin, not crispate, tomentose, tips obtuse, spreading, abaxially finely tomentose.
Achenes

body pilose, hairs of rim spreading;

beak (2.5-)3-4.5(-5.5) cm, plumose.
2n

= 16.

Clematis occidentalis

Clematis coactilis
Phenology Flowering spring–early summer.
Habitat Shale barrens, rarely on sandstone, dolomite, or limestone outcrops
Elevation 300-600 m (1000-2000 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CO; CT; DE; IA; ID; IL; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MT; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OR; PA; RI; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; NB; ON; QC; SK; YT
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
VA
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 3 (3 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Of conservation concern.

Clematis coactilis is known only from western Virginia. C. S. Keener (1967, 1975) suggested that this species may be a stabilized derivative of past hybridization between C. albicoma and C. ochroleuca.

In fruit, Clematis coactilis is distinguishable from C. ochroleuca by its combination of spreading to reflexed hairs on the achene rims and whitish to pale yellow (rarely tawny) hairs on the beaks, contrasting with the strongly ascending hairs on the achene rims and tawny (rarely yellowish white) hairs on the beaks of C. ochroleuca. This species and C. ochroleuca lack stomates on the adaxial surface of the leaves, whereas the closely related species C. albicoma, C. fremontii, and C. viticaulis have stomates on both leaf surfaces (C. S. Keener 1967).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Leaflets lobed or unlobed, margins entire or crenate-serrate (or terminal leaflet sometimes ternate); stems tufted or, if viny, up to 0.5(–1.5) m.
var. dissecta
1. Leaflets unlobed or some 1–3-lobed, margins entire or shallowly serrate; stems ± viny, climbing or trailing, 0.25–3.5 m.
→ 2
2. Sepals reddish violet, rounded-mucronate to nearly acuminate.
var. occidentalis
2. Sepals violet-blue to pale blue, rarely white, usually distinctly acuminate.
var. grosseserrata
Source FNA vol. 3. FNA vol. 3.
Parent taxa Ranunculaceae > Clematis > subg. Atragene Ranunculaceae > Clematis > subg. Viorna
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. hirsutissima, C. lasiantha, C. ligusticifolia, C. morefieldii, 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. addisonii, C. albicoma, C. baldwinii, C. bigelovii, C. catesbyana, C. columbiana, C. crispa, C. drummondii, C. fremontii, C. glaucophylla, C. hirsutissima, 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
Subordinate taxa
C. occidentalis var. dissecta, C. occidentalis var. grosseserrata, C. occidentalis var. occidentalis
Synonyms Atragene occidentalis C. albicoma var. coactilis
Name authority (Hornemann) de Candolle: Prodr. 1: 10. (1824) (Fernald) Keener: J. Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc. 83: 36. (1967)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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