Clematis occidentalis
Clematis fremontii
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
Fremont's clematis, Fremont's leather flower
viny, climbing or trailing (plants scarcely viny perennials in var. dissecta).
erect, 1.5-4(-7) dm, moderately to densely villous, sometimes sparsely so near nodes.
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 ovate-elliptic to broadly ovate, unlobed, 5-14 × 3.5-11 cm, leathery, prominently reticulate adaxially;
surfaces abaxially glabrous or sparsely villous-tomentose on veins, not glaucous.
terminal, flowers solitary;
bracts absent.
sepals violet-blue, reddish violet, or white, lanceolate to ovate or elliptic-oblong.
narrowly urn-shaped;
sepals pale blue-violet to purple, pale green toward tips, lanceolate, 2-4 cm, margins not expanded or 1-3 mm wide, thin or ± thick, not crispate or slightly crispate, tomentose, tips acuminate, spreading to recurved, abaxially glabrous to sparsely villous.
bodies proximally pubescent with silky or sparse short hairs, distally cobwebby-tomentose;
beak 1.5-3(-3.5) cm, proximally silky-tomentose, sparsely appressed-pubescent to nearly glabrous toward tip.
= 16.
Clematis occidentalis
Clematis fremontii
Varieties 3 (3 in the flora).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
R. O. Erickson (1943) separated the Missouri plants as Clematis fremontii var. riehlii R. O. Erickson on the basis of their supposedly greater height and more widely spaced, proportionately narrower leaves. As noted by C. S. Keener (1967), however, so much overlap occurs in the ranges of variation of the Missouri and the Kansas-Nebraska populations that recognition of these varieties is not possible.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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 |
- Local floras:
BC, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites:
Flora NW, 
Go Botany, 
IL Wildflowers, 
MD Biodiversity, 
MI Flora, 
MN Wildflowers, 
PNW Herbaria 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
KS Wildflowers
MO Plants
