Flora of North America species comparison

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Clematis terniflora

Clematis orientalis

sweet autumn clematis, sweet autumn virginsbower, yam-leaf clematis, yam-leaf virgin's-bower

Chinese clematis, oriental clematis, oriental virginsbower
Stems

climbing with tendril-like petioles and leaf rachises, 3-6 m.

climbing, 2-8 m.
Leaf

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 5-7-foliolate, proximal leaflets sometimes 3-foliolate;

leaflets lanceolate to elliptic or ovate, usually 2-3-lobed proximally, 1-5.5 × 0.5-3.5 cm, margins entire or coarsely few-toothed;

surfaces at least abaxially pubescent, glaucous.
Inflorescences

axillary, 3-12-flowered cymes or compound cymes or paniculate with cymose subunits.

axillary, sometimes terminal, 3-many-flowered cymes or flowers solitary.
Flowers

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.

bisexual;

pedicel (0.5-)1-11 cm;

sepals wide-spreading and recurved, greenish yellow, ovate-lanceolate to elliptic, 0.8-2 cm, length ca. 2.5 times width, margins densely pubescent, abaxially and adaxially pubescent or abaxially glabrous;

stamens 20-40;

filaments pilose proximally;

staminodes absent;

pistils 75-150.
Achenes

broad, flat, conspicuously rimmed, minutely appressed-silky, sometimes sparsely so;

beak 2-6 cm.

turgid, not conspicuously rimmed, pilose;

beak 2-5 cm.

Clematis terniflora

Clematis orientalis
Phenology Flowering summer (Jul–Sep). Flowering summer–fall.
Habitat Roadsides, thickets, and other secondary sites, edges of woods near creeks Roadsides, other secondary habitats, open woods
Elevation 0-1000 m (0-3300 ft) 0-2600 m (0-8500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; CT; FL; GA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NE; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; WV; ON; native to Asia (China, Korea, Japan) [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CO; NM; NV; UT; ON; native to Eurasia [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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 orientalis has been reported from Idaho; it probably can be expected elsewhere.

This species has been divided by C. Grey-Wilson (1989) into five varieties, partly correlated with their distribution in Asia. Naturalized plants in North America seem best referred to C. orientalis var. robusta Grey-Wilson, native to Afghanistan.

Although Clematis orientalis has been naturalized in the Rocky Mountains since the late nineteenth century, it has spread especially rapidly since ca. 1975, becoming weedy and, in some localities, constituting a threat to young trees and native shrubby and herbaceous species.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 3. FNA vol. 3.
Parent taxa Ranunculaceae > Clematis > subg. Clematis 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. occidentalis, C. ochroleuca, C. orientalis, C. pauciflora, C. pitcheri, C. recta, C. reticulata, C. socialis, C. tangutica, 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. 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
Synonyms C. dioscoreifolia, C. dioscoreifolia var. robusta, C. maximowicziana Viticella orientalis
Name authority de Candolle: Syst. Nat. 1: 137. (1817) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 543. (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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