Clematis terniflora
Clematis columbiana
sweet autumn clematis, sweet autumn virginsbower, yam-leaf clematis, yam-leaf virgin's-bower
Columbian virgin's bower, rock clematis
climbing with tendril-like petioles and leaf rachises, 3-6 m.
viny, climbing or trailing (mainly rhizomatous, not viny in var. tenuiloba).
blade pinnately 3- or 5-foliolate;
leaflets ovate or broadly lanceolate to narrowly deltate, to 6.5 × 3.5 cm, margins entire;
surfaces abaxially glabrous or very sparingly appressed-strigose on major veins.
blade consistently 2-3-ternate;
leaflets diverse in shape, thin or ± succulent, usually deeply lobed, margins serrate.
axillary, 3-12-flowered cymes or compound cymes or paniculate with cymose subunits.
bisexual, often some unisexual (staminate) in same inflorescence;
pedicel 1-3.5 cm, slender;
sepals wide-spreading, not recurved, white, linear or elliptic to lanceolate or narrowly obovate, 0.9-2.2 cm, length ca. 2-3 times width, abaxially tomentose along margins, adaxially glabrous;
stamens ca. 50;
filaments glabrous;
staminodes absent;
pistils 5-10.
sepals violet-blue (rarely white in var. columbiana), lance-ovate to ovate.
broad, flat, conspicuously rimmed, minutely appressed-silky, sometimes sparsely so;
beak 2-6 cm.
Clematis terniflora
Clematis columbiana
Clematis terniflora is commonly cultivated as an ornamental. It is widely naturalized in the eastern United States. The name C. paniculata J. F. Gmelin was incorrectly used for this species by Thunberg in 1794.
Some authors have recognized two or more varieties in this species, correlated with their distribution in Asia, but in the study by H.Hara (1975), all of the varietal names were reduced to synonymy.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).
The name Clematis columbiana was formerly misapplied to C. occidentalis var. grosseserrata; it is still associated with that taxon in some horticultural and popular publications. In such w C.columbiana is usually called C. pseudoalpina.
The two varieties of Clematis columbiana, although strikingly dissimilar in their extremes, intergrade extensively. The phenotype of C.columbiana var. tenuiloba may be at least in part a response to habitat; in some areas it grows on exposed summits while var. columbiana occurs nearby at lower elevations. In other areas, however, such as the Killdeer Mountains of North Dakota and the Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming, only the tenuiloba extreme is present.
The Thompson Indians used plants of Clematis columbiana medicinally in a head wash for scabs and eczema (D. E. Moerman 1986; varieties were not specified).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Aerial stems elongating, viny, 0.5–1.5(–3.5) m; ultimate divisions of leaves often more than 5 mm wide, thin. | var. columbiana |
1. Aerial stems tufted, not viny, usually less than 0.1 m; ultimate divisions of leaves mostly 1.5–5 mm wide, ± succulent. | var. tenuiloba |
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