Our sincere thanks go to Rusty@storiescarvedinstone, who posted today's awesome Botany Photo of the Day in our Flickr Pool.
Due to its preference for the moist soils that line bodies of water (lakes and rivers), Ranunculaceae—commonly known either as the buttercup or the crowfoot family—derives its scientific name from the Latin for frog. The family, which includes the well-known Anemone genus, consists of about 60 genera and between 1700 and 2500 herbaceous and flowering vine species that are distributed throughout the world, though the majority are concentrated in the northern temperate region. Species generally put forth showy, fragrant flowers in terminal racemes, panicles, or cymes.
Clematis, another genus first described by Linnaeus in the 18th century, counts about 300 robust herbaceous perennial vine and shrubby species among its ranks. Generally speaking, species that inhabit cooler northern regions are deciduous while their counterparts in warmer climate zones are evergreen. The genus has achieved a measure of notoriety for the toxic chemical compounds that its species contain in their sap, flowers, leaves, and shoots, several of which can cause skin irritation, allergic reaction, and internal bleeding if incautiously consumed.
Clematis virginiana is a twisting climber dressed in palmately compound, sharply toothed leaves that are arranged either oppositely or in whorls. Plants are dioecious (separate male and female flowers) and grow up to 5 metres in height, thriving when sited in moist, organic-rich soils. In the summer months (July through September), plants put forth lovely clusters of fragrant, white flowers that are equipped with 4 petals and 4 sepals (07/29/2009). The species' common names include virgin's bower and old man's beard, the latter of which refers to the large tufts of plumose seed heads that emerge in late summer and remain on the plant throughout the cold winter months.
Awesome is the right word. I have a purple variety which the deer ate this year.
Clematis are some of the most underused vines in horticulture. Visit your favorite botanic garden plant sale or absent that, a rare plants nursery, for some fascinating species that produce great flowers and interesting seed heads.
I didn't know some species had prickled stems.
In answer to He Who Lives With Yankees, the Clematis in the photo is likely growing along with greenbriar (Smilax rotundifolia) that shares the same habitat. It is a plant with wonderfully thorny stems that also climb.
I'm not so sure I love Smilax, I still have scars from a botanizing adventure in NJ's Pine Barrens.
The photo above was taken in our rather wild backyard, and the Virgin's Bower is climbing over a rose cane. We collected a vine or two of the VB twenty years ago from a neighbor's land and I love the way it twists among the climbing roses without strangling them (unlike the Dutchman's Pipe.) The white flowers and the pink roses really offset one another. And when the roses have gone by for the year, the Virgin's Bower explodes into fruit. (Above)
Be cautious with your use of Old Man's Beard. Clemetis vitalba is a horrible invasive weed in Western Washington. http://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/animalsAndPlants/noxious-weeds/weed-identification/old-mans-beard.aspx
As I scroll slowly down to see the picture every day, I feel a bit of the same happy expectation that one dowse when opening a gift. What a gift this lovely plant was, for as I scrolled, my mind saw the fluffy white ’hairs’ and the darker spots, and what I saw at first was definitely not a plant, it was a Shih Tzu puppy face, then it turned into a plant about ¼ way down the photo. I laughed at my expectation, especially to see a puppy instead of a plant.
Just thought I’d share what I saw. It sure looks as though it would be a fine accent in most gardens.
Are all clematis dioecious? Do the male and female flowers look different and I've just been missing that all these years?
I was trying to find the answer to my question and ended up on a Missouri Plants page that says "petals are absent, petaloid sepals 4". That would seem to contradict the "4 petals and 4 sepals" in this posting, which should give 8 things to look at, not just four(?). That page has photos of the staminate flowers and leaves.
And I still haven't found the answer to my question about how different the male and female flowers look and are they different on all clematis.
Hello everyone,
I have looked over some things, and it seems that in the day's original posting I made a misstatement with regard to the number of petals on the flower on the Virgin's Bower. My apologies; I have corrected it above.
Thank you to Wendy for drawing this oversight to my attention.
- Steve
Just a note: Dioecious means having pistilate and staminate flowers on separate plants, while monoeious means having separate pistilate and staminate flowers on the same plant. I'm sure this is obvious, but is perhaps not clear from the quick blurb in the write up. Aside from parsing botany vocabulary, Clematis virginina are dioecious, but I think this is rare in the Clematis genus. I think most species have bisexual flowers and that a few species are monoecios.
Awesome indeed - as is the description.
I thoroughly enjoyed all the foregoing posts, too.
also called the devils darning needle
oh my i was born in nj long time ago
one is always careful in the pine barrens
if pictures could talk this one would
harry potters devils needle indeed
Reminds me a bit of Cousin It from The Addams Family (an old American TV show).
:-D
Or the tribbles, from the old Star Trek TV series :)
Somehow Stephan forgot to link to Rusty's picture on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23206546@N04/3652145226/
In Chinese medicine the root of a very similar small fuzzy flowered species, C. recta (Wei ling xian), is decocted to get rid of fish bones caught in the throat. As a pungent, salty and warm herb, it is used for painful rheumatism, headaches, and for varicose veins. Clematis root is used in formula to treat syphilis, gout, bone disorders, and chronic skin conditions. Topically it is made into a poultice for blisters and ulcerations. Frankly, for topical use I would be tempted to try the flowers, perhaps moistened with a decoction of the root.
Yes, the Virgins Bower is it's common name around here. It grows commonly in roadside fence rows and is not in full bloom. Seeds are easily harvested by pulling these puffs off after they start to dry down.