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

leather-flower, vasevine

Stems

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

Leaves

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- or 2-pinnate, ternate, or finely dissected; ultimate divisions lobed or unlobed, margins entire or few-toothed.

Inflorescences

axillary, 1-7-flowered.

terminal and/or axillary, on current year's stems; 3-7-flowered bracteate cymes or flowers solitary or paired, peduncles bracteate [or several-many-flowered panicles].

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.

bisexual, usually nodding (± erect in some spp., esp.

Achenes

bodies appressed-pubescent;

beak 4-7 cm, plumose.

flattened;

beak variable in length, plumose to nearly glabrous.

Woody

vines or erect, ± herbaceous perennials, clumped (or patch-forming from rhizomes in C. socialis).

c

. morefieldii);

sepals ascending, connivent at least proximally and usually much of length, variously colored, lanceolate or oblong to broadly ovate, thick, usually leathery, abaxially glabrous to silky, hirsute, or tomentose;

filaments slender, usually pubescent (except C. pitcheri var. dictyota), connectives often ± prolonged (especially in C. pitcheri);

staminodes absent.

2n

= 16.

Clematis texensis

Clematis subg. Viorna

Phenology Flowering spring–summer (Mar–Jun).
Habitat Woodlands, calcareous cliffs, and stream banks
Elevation 80-700 m (300-2300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
TX
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Temperate; mostly North America; a few in Eurasia
[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.)

Species ca. 25 (18 in the flora).

Clematis integrifolia Linnaeus, with relatively wide-spreading, blue sepals, is locally naturalized in Ontario.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Key
1. Leaves all simple, blade rarely so deeply lobed that proximal 2 lobes appear as distinct linear leaflets; plants herbaceous or ± woody at base, erect, not viny.
→ 2
1. At least some distal leaves of main stems distinctly compound or deeply much-dissected; plants erect or viny.
→ 8
2. Sepals glabrous or sparsely villous, tips acuminate; achene body cobwebby-tomentose distally, or long-pubescent.
→ 3
2. Sepals (except margins) minutely puberulent, silky, woolly, or nearly glabrous, tips obtuse to acute; achene body pilose or short-pilose.
→ 4
3. Leaf blade 3.5-11 cm wide, prominently reticulate adaxially; beak not plumose, proximally silky-tomentose, sparsely appressed-pubescent to nearly glabrous distally; Kans., Nebr., Mo.
C. fremontii
3. Leaf blade 0.2-2(-3.5) cm wide, not prominently reticulate adaxially; beak distinctly plumose; Fla.
C. baldwinii
4. Leaf blade abaxially moderately to densely soft-pubescent, rarely nearly glabrous; secondary and tertiary veins forming prominent reticulum on adaxial surface.
→ 5
4. Leaf blade abaxially glabrous or nearly so, sparsely or rarely densely villous on veins; secondary and tertiary veins not forming prominent reticulum on adaxial surface.
→ 6
5. Stems and abaxial surface of leaf blades moderately silky-pilose with spreading hairs, rarely nearly glabrous; beak yellowish brown to reddish brown; hairs of achene rim appressed-ascending.
C. ochroleuca
5. Stems and abaxial surface of leaf blades densely silky-tomentose with appressed hairs; beak white to pale yellow; hairs of achene rim spreading.
C. coactilis
6. Sepals abaxially silky to woolly; beak white to pale yellow.
C. albicoma
6. Sepals abaxially glabrous to minutely puberulent; beak coppery brown.
→ 7
7. Leaf blade abaxially glaucous and glabrous; sepals abaxially glabrous.
C. addisonii
7. Leaf blade abaxially not glaucous, sparsely to densely villous on veins; sepals abaxially nearly glabrous or minutely puberulent.
C. viticaulis
8. Plants erect or sprawling, not viny; stems to 0.65m.
→ 9
8. Plants viny, petioles and/or rachises of leaves often functioning as tendrils; stems usually 1-5m.
→ 13
9. Larger leaf blades (1-)2-3-pinnate or -ternate or deeply dissected.
→ 10
9. Leaf blade 1-pinnate or simple.
→ 11
10. Leaflets usually less than 1.5 cm wide, mostly more than 2.5 times as long as wide, mostly unlobed, if lobed then with lateral lobes 1 or 2, usually small, distinctly narrower than central portion; blade abaxially sparsely to densely hirsute; beak plumose.
C. hirsutissima
10. Leaflets usually more than 1.5 cm wide and/or less than 2.5 times as long as wide, mostly lobed, lateral lobes often nearly as wide as central portion; blade glabrous or nearly so (rachis and petiolules may be ±hirsute); beak glabrous or inconspicuously appressed-pubescent.
C. bigelovii
11. Terminal leaflets usually tendril-like; blades of simple leaves and lateral leaflets of compound leaves usually more than 2 cm wide; sepals purple or reddish purple, whitish toward tips.
C. addisonii
11. Terminal leaflets with expanded blade, not tendril-like; blades of simple leaves and lateral leaflets usually less than 2 cm wide; sepals uniformly violet-blue.
→ 12
12. Plants strongly rhizomatous, forming patches; sepals 2-2.5(-3) cm; beak 1.5-2.5 cm.
C. socialis
12. Plants not rhizomatous; sepals 2.5-5.5 cm; beak 6-10 cm.
C. baldwinii
13. Largest leaf blades 1-2-pinnate, leaflets mostly deeply lobed; beak 1-3 cm, inconspicuously appressed-pubescent to nearly glabrous.
C. pitcheri
13. Largest leaves simple, blades 1-pinnate, or if some 2-pinnate, leaflets of 2-pinnate leaves usually unlobed, rarely 2-5-lobed; beak 2-7 cm, plumose (appressed-puberulent in C.crispa and C.pitcheri).
→ 14
14. Leaflets abaxially glaucous and glabrous, rarely with a few scattered hairs.
→ 15
14. Leaflets not glaucous, usually abaxially pubescent, sometimes glabrous.
→ 18
15. Leaves mostly simple, only distalmost compound.
C. addisonii
15. Leaves all or mostly compound, simple leaves, if any, only on small branches and near base of main stem.
→ 16
16. Leaf blade ±thin, secondary and tertiary veins not forming prominent reticulum on adaxial surface.
C. glaucophylla
16. Leaf blade leathery, secondary and tertiary veins forming prominent reticulum on adaxial surface.
→ 17
17. Sepals rose-red to scarlet abaxially and at tip adaxially; tips recurved.
C. texensis
17. Sepals pale lavender or blue-violet to reddish purple abaxially, often paler or greenish adaxially, tips slightly spreading.
C. versicolor
18. Sepals with thin, crispate margins to 6 mm wide distally.
C. crispa
18. Sepals without expanded, thin, crispate margins or with margins less than 2.5 mm wide.
→ 19
19. Leaf blade leathery, secondary and tertiary veins forming prominent reticulum on adaxial surface.
→ 20
19. Leaf blade thin, secondary and tertiary veins not forming prominent reticulum on adaxial surface.
→ 21
20. Beak plumose, with spreading hairs; leaf blade finely reticulate (ultimate closed areoles mostly less than 2 mm in longer dimension), even quaternary veins distinctly raised on adaxial surface.
C. reticulata
20. Beak sparsely pubescent to silky, with ascending to appressed hairs; leaf blade less finely reticulate (ultimate closed areoles mostly more than 2 mm in longer dimension), tertiary and quaternary veins scarcely or not raised on adaxial surface.
C. pitcheri
21. Stems generally cobwebby as well as villous; bracts near base of peduncle/pedicel; sepals densely silky-pubescent abaxially, pinkish suffused with green, tips spreading to short-reflexed.
C. morefieldii
21. Stems without cobwebby pubescence; bracts well above base of peduncle/pedicel; sepals sparsely pubescent abaxially, pale lavender to reddish purple, tips recurved.
C. viorna
Source FNA vol. 3. FNA vol. 3.
Parent taxa Ranunculaceae > Clematis > subg. Viorna Ranunculaceae > 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. terniflora, C. versicolor, C. viorna, C. virginiana, C. vitalba, C. viticaulis, C. viticella
Subordinate taxa
C. addisonii, C. albicoma, C. baldwinii, C. bigelovii, C. coactilis, C. crispa, C. fremontii, C. glaucophylla, C. hirsutissima, C. morefieldii, C. ochroleuca, C. pitcheri, C. reticulata, C. socialis, C. texensis, C. versicolor, C. viorna, C. viticaulis
Synonyms Viorna coccinea subg. Viorna
Name authority Buckley: Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 13: 448. (1862) A. Gray: in A. Gray et al., Syn. Fl. N. Amer. 1(1): 5. (1895)
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