Clematis terniflora
Clematis ligusticifolia
sweet autumn clematis, sweet autumn virginsbower, yam-leaf clematis, yam-leaf virgin's-bower
creek clematis, hierba de chivo, old man's beard, pipestems, virgin's-bower, western clematis, western virgin's bower, western white clematis, white clematis, white virgin's-bower, wireweed
climbing with tendril-like petioles and leaf rachises, 3-6 m.
clambering or climbing, to 6(-20) m.
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 pinnately 5-foliolate or 2-pinnate and 9-15-foliolate, somewhat succulent;
leaflets lanceolate to broadly ovate, lobed or unlobed, (1-)3-9 × 0.9-7.2 cm, margins entire or variously toothed;
surfaces abaxially glabrous or sparsely pilose or silky, especially on veins; ultimate venation obscure.
axillary, 3-12-flowered cymes or compound cymes or paniculate with cymose subunits.
axillary, usually 7-20(-65)-flowered compound cymes, often distinctly corymbiform, flowers crowded.
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.
unisexual;
pedicel slender, 0.5-3 cm;
sepals wide-spreading, not recurved, white to cream, obovate to oblanceolate, 6-10 mm, abaxially and adaxially pilose;
stamens 25-50;
staminodes absent or fewer than stamens;
pistils 25-65.
broad, flat, conspicuously rimmed, minutely appressed-silky, sometimes sparsely so;
beak 2-6 cm.
elliptic, 3-3.5 × ca. 1.5 mm, prominently rimmed, silky;
beak 3-3.5 cm.
= 16.
Clematis terniflora
Clematis ligusticifolia
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.)
Clematis ligusticifolia is the common virgin's-bower in the western United States and Canada. In California it might hybridize with C. lasiantha. In Mexico it is found only in the extreme north; it is probably related to the Mexican and Central American species, C.grossa Bentham.
The name Clematis neomexicana has been applied to the populations with crenate leaflets in New Mexico and northern Chihuahua. This distinction is tenuous, however, given the wide variation present in leaflet margins within this and other species in Clematis subg. Clematis.
Two varieties of Clematis ligusticifolia have been weakly distinguished based on the presence or absence of 2-pinnate leaves.
Infusions prepared from the plants of Clematis ligusticifolia were used medicinally by Native Americans as a wash for skin eruptions, a lotion for backaches or swollen limbs, and a lotion to protect one against witches; stems and leaves were chewed to treat colds and sore throats; decoctions of leaves were also used as a wash and for stomachaches and cramps; and lathers of leaves were used to treat boils on humans and on animals (D. E. Moerman 1986).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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