Flora of North America species comparison

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Clematis occidentalis

Clematis recta

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

ground virgin's-bower
Stems

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

herbaceous, ascending to erect, not climbing, 0.6-1.5 m. Leaf blade pinnately 5-9-foliolate;

leaflets lanceolate to ovate, 3-9 × 0.8-4 cm, margins entire;

surfaces glabrous.
Leaf

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.

Inflorescences

axillary and terminal, many-flowered cymes and panicles.
Flowers

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

bisexual;

pedicel 8-20 mm, slender;

sepals wide-spreading, not recurved, white, oblanceolate to oblong, 8-20 mm, length ca. 4 times width, margins tomentose, otherwise glabrous;

stamens 20-50;

filaments glabrous;

staminodes absent;

pistils 8-25.
Achenes

broad, flat, conspicuously rimmed, glabrous;

beak 1.2-2 cm.

Clematis occidentalis

Clematis recta
Phenology Flowering summer (Jun–Jul).
Habitat Old fields and thickets
Elevation 0-100 m (0-300 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
NY; ON; native of Eurasia [Introduced in North America]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 3 (3 in the flora).

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

Clematis recta should probably be expected elsewhere.

(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. Clematis
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. ochroleuca, C. orientalis, C. pauciflora, C. pitcheri, 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
Name authority (Hornemann) de Candolle: Prodr. 1: 10. (1824) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 544. (1753)
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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