The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

crimson clematis, scarlet clematis, scarlet leather flower, Texas clematis

huntsville vasevine, Morefield's clematis, Morefield's leather-flower

Stems

viny, to 3 m, glabrous or sometimes ± hirsute near nodes.

viny, to 5 m, cobwebby-tomentose and pilose.

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-pinnate;

leaflets 4-10 plus additional tendril-like terminal leaflet, narrowly to broadly ovate, unlobed or 2-3-lobed, 3.5-10 × 2-6.5 cm, thin, reticulate;

surfaces abaxially densely silky-pilose, not glaucous.

Inflorescences

axillary, 1-7-flowered.

axillary, 1-5-flowered;

bracts at or near base of peduncle/pedicel.

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.

urn-shaped;

sepals pinkish, suffused with green, oblong-lanceolate, 2-2.5 cm, margins not expanded, thick, not crispate, tomentose, tips acuminate, slightly spreading to short-reflexed, abaxially densely silky-pubescent.

Achenes

bodies appressed-pubescent;

beak 4-7 cm, plumose.

bodies silky-pubescent;

beak 3-3.5 cm, plumose.

2n

= 16.

Clematis texensis

Clematis morefieldii

Phenology Flowering spring–summer (Mar–Jun). Flowering spring–early summer.
Habitat Woodlands, calcareous cliffs, and stream banks Open woods among limestone boulders
Elevation 80-700 m (300-2300 ft) 200-300 m (700-1000 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
TX
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL
[BONAP county map]
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.)

Of conservation concern.

Clematis morefieldii is known only from limestone uplands east of Huntsville, Madison County, Alabama.

From all variants of the closely related Clematis viorna, C. morefieldii differs in the cobwebby tomentose as well as villous pubescence of its stems, and in having bracts at or very near the base of the peduncle rather than well above the base.

(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
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. terniflora, 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. occidentalis, 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
Synonyms Viorna coccinea
Name authority Buckley: Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 13: 448. (1862) Kral: Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 74: 665. (1987)
Web links