Flora of North America species comparison

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Clematis occidentalis

Clematis ochroleuca

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

curly-heads, erect silky leather-flower
Stems

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

erect to ± sprawling, not viny, 2-7 dm,, sparsely to ± densely pilose.
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 narrowly to broadly ovate, unlobed or rarely few-lobed, 3-14 × (1.5-)2.5-8(-9.5) cm, ± leathery, reticulate adaxially;

surfaces abaxially moderately silky-pilose with spreading hairs or rarely nearly glabrous, not glaucous.
Inflorescences

terminal, flowers solitary;

bracts absent.
Flowers

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

narrowly urn-shaped;

sepals pale yellow to pale purple, lanceolate, 1-3.5 cm, margins not expanded, thin, not crispate, tomentose, tip obtuse, spreading to recurved, abaxially silky-pubescent.
Achenes

bodies pilose, hairs appressed-ascending;

beak yellowish brown to reddish brown, 3-6 cm, plumose.
2n

= 16.

Clematis occidentalis

Clematis ochroleuca
Phenology Flowering spring.
Habitat Dry to moist woods, thickets, roadsides, and other shady to open, ± disturbed sites, mostly on mafic substrates
Elevation 0-500 m (0-1600 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
DC; GA; MD; NC; NJ; NY; SC; VA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 3 (3 in the flora).

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

In New York, Clematis ochroleucra is known only from Staten Island and, formerly, from western Long Island (Brooklyn).

(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. coactilis, C. columbiana, C. crispa, C. drummondii, C. fremontii, C. glaucophylla, C. hirsutissima, C. lasiantha, C. ligusticifolia, C. morefieldii, C. occidentalis, 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 Viorna ochroleuca
Name authority (Hornemann) de Candolle: Prodr. 1: 10. (1824) Aiton: Hort. Kew. 2: 260. (1789)
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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