Clematis texensis |
Clematis bigelovii |
|
---|---|---|
crimson clematis, scarlet clematis, scarlet leather flower, Texas clematis |
Bigelow's clematis, Bigelow's leather flower |
|
Stems | viny, to 3 m, glabrous or sometimes ± hirsute near nodes. |
erect or sprawling, 0.1-0.6 m, short pubescent-pilose, sometimes sparsely so. |
Leaf | blade 1-pinnate; leaflets 6-10 plus additional tendril-like terminal leaflet, ovate to nearly round, unlobed, 2-3-lobed, or most proximal occasionally 3-foliolate, 1-9 × 1-6 cm, leathery, ± prominently reticulate adaxially; surfaces abaxially usually glabrous, occasionally sparsely pubescent, glaucous. |
blade 1-2(-3)-pinnate; primary leaflets 7-11, mostly deeply 2-several-lobed, leaflets and larger lobes mostly ovate, 0.8-3.5 × 0.5-1.5 cm (lateral lobes nearly as wide as central portion), thin, not prominently reticulate; surfaces glabrous, somewhat glaucous. |
Inflorescences | axillary, 1-7-flowered. |
terminal, 1-flowered. |
Flowers | ovoid to urn-shaped; sepals rose-red to scarlet abaxially and at tip adaxially, ovate-lanceolate, 1.5-3 cm, margins not expanded, thick, not crispate, tomentose, tips acute to acuminate, recurved, abaxially glabrous. |
broadly urn- to bell-shaped; sepals purple, lanceolate, 1.5-3 cm, margins narrowly expanded distally to ca. 1 mm wide, thin, crispate, tomentose, tips acuminate, spreading, abaxially sparsely pubescent. |
Achenes | bodies appressed-pubescent; beak 4-7 cm, plumose. |
bodies appressed-long-pubescent; beak 2-3 cm, glabrous or inconspicuously appressed-pubescent, sparsely so toward tip. |
2n | = 16. |
|
Clematis texensis |
Clematis bigelovii |
|
Phenology | Flowering spring–summer (Mar–Jun). | Flowering spring–fall. |
Habitat | Woodlands, calcareous cliffs, and stream banks | Mountain slopes, moist sites in canyons |
Elevation | 80-700 m (300-2300 ft) | 1700-2400 m (5600-7900 ft) |
Distribution |
TX
|
AZ; NM
|
Discussion | Although widely cultivated because it is the only species of Clematis with truly red flowers, C.texensis is native only to the southeastern part of the Edwards Plateau, Texas. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Clematis bigelovii is locally common and is restricted to New Mexico and a few sites in Arizona. Although usually grouped with C. hirsutissima because of its scarcely viny habit, this species appears to represent the extreme expression of clinal variation including C. pitcheri var. dictyota and, at the other extreme, eastern populations of C. pitcheri var. pitcheri; it might well be treated as C. pitcheri var. bigelovii (Torrey) B.L. Robinson. Clematis palmeri Rose is represented by a small number of specimens from New Mexico and one from eastern Arizona, and its distinctness as a species has been questioned. The few published descriptions scarcely suffice to indicate its distinguishing features and are sometimes at variance with each other and with specimens so identified by R.O. Erickson (1943) or others. Almost all specimens were found where C. bigelovii was reported nearby. Pending further studies, it seems likely that C. palmeri comprises somewhat aberrant specimens of C. bigelovii, C. hirsutissima var. scottii, and/or C. pitcheri var. dictyota, perhaps also some herbarium sheets of flowering and fruiting material inadvertently collected from different species, and/or hybrids involving the species named above in one or more combinations. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 3. | FNA vol. 3. |
Parent taxa | Ranunculaceae > Clematis > subg. Viorna | Ranunculaceae > Clematis > subg. Viorna |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Viorna coccinea | |
Name authority | Buckley: Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 13: 448. (1862) | Torrey: Pacif. Railr. Rep. 4(5): 61. 1857 ["1856"] |
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