Clematis occidentalis
Clematis pitcheri
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
bellflower clematis, bluebill, Pitcher's clematis, Pitcher's leather flower
viny, climbing or trailing (plants scarcely viny perennials in var. dissecta).
viny, to 4 m, very sparsely short-pilose, sometimes nearly glabrous.
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 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.
axillary, 1-7-flowered.
sepals violet-blue, reddish violet, or white, lanceolate to ovate or elliptic-oblong.
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 appressed-pubescent;
beak 1-3 cm, nearly glabrous to ± appressed-pubescent or silky.
Clematis occidentalis
Clematis pitcheri
Varieties 3 (3 in the flora).
(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 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 |
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 |
- 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
