Everything about Clematis totally explained
Clematis (from
Ancient Greek klematis, a climbing plant, probably
periwinkle) is a
genus of mostly vigorous climbing
lianas, with attractive flowers. Some species are
shrubby, and some others are
herbaceous perennial plants. They are found throughout the temperate regions of both hemispheres, and also in mountains in the tropics. The cool temperate species are
deciduous, but many of the warmer climate species are
evergreen.
Most species are known as
Clematis in English, while some are also known as
traveller's joy,
leather flower,
vase vine and
virgin's bower, the last three being names used for
North American species.
One recent classification recognised 297 species of clematis. Unsurprisingly, therefore, modern taxonomists subdivide the genus. Magnus Johnson divided
Clematis into 19
sections, several with subsections
(External Link
); Christopher Grey-Wilson divided the genus into 9
subgenera, several with sections and subsections within them
(External Link). Several of the subdivisions are fairly consistent between different classifications, for example all Grey-Wilson's subgenera are used as sections by Johnson.
Subgenera of Clematis according to Grey-Wilson:
» Clematis, Cheiropsis, Flammula, Archiclematis, Campanella, Atragene, Tubulosae, Pseudanemone, Viorna
Some of these were previously classed as separate genera.
Although the genus Clematis is extremely diverse many of the most popular forms grown in gardens are cultivars belonging to the Viticella section of the subgenus Flammula as defined by Grey-Wilson. These larger flowered cultivars are often used within garden designs to climb archways, pergolas, wall-mounted trellis or to grow through companion plants. Raymond Evison chronicles the history and development of these forms which normally have large 12-15cm diameter upward facing flowers and believes they largely involve crosses of c. patens, c. lanuginosa and c. viticella.
Early season large flowering forms (e.g "Nelly Moser") tend towards the natural flowering habit of c. patens or c. lanuginosa while later flowering forms (eg. x jackmanii) are nearer in habit to c. viticella.
Clematis leaves are food for the
caterpillars of some
Lepidoptera species, including the
Willow Beauty (
Peribatodes rhomboidaria).
Use and toxicity
Clematis ligusticifolia is widespread across the western United States and grows in streamside thickets, wooded hillsides, and coniferous forests up to 4,000 feet. A related species,
Clematis columbiana, is widespread from British Columbia south into Oregon, with a range that extends east into Montana and Wyoming. Clematis was referred to as
"pepper vine" by early travelers and pioneers of the American West and used as a pepper substitute to spice up food during the period of western colonization, since during this period, Black pepper
(Piper nigrum), was a costly and rarely obtainable spice.
The entire genus contains
essential oils and compounds which are extremely irritating to the skin and mucous membrames. Unlike
Black Pepper or
Capsicum, however, the compounds in clematis cause internal bleeding of the digestive tract if ingested internally in large amounts. The plants are essentially toxic. Despite its toxicity, Native Americans used very small amounts of clematis as an effective treatment for migraine headaches and nervous disorders. It was also used as an effective treatment of skin infections.
Species
Further Information
Get more info on 'Clematis'.
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