Clematis cirrhosa L.

TSO logo

Sponsor this page

For information about how you could sponsor this page, see How You Can Help

Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Clematis cirrhosa' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/clematis/clematis-cirrhosa/). Accessed 2024-03-28.

Synonyms

  • C. balearica Pers., not Rich.

Glossary

glabrous
Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.
involucre
A ring of bracts surrounding an inflorescence.
ovate
Egg-shaped; broadest towards the stem.
variety
(var.) Taxonomic rank (varietas) grouping variants of a species with relatively minor differentiation in a few characters but occurring as recognisable populations. Often loosely used for rare minor variants more usefully ranked as forms.

References

There are no active references in this article.

Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Clematis cirrhosa' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/clematis/clematis-cirrhosa/). Accessed 2024-03-28.

An evergreen climber, said to cover trees in its native country, but only a few feet high in the average climate of Britain; young stems silky-hairy. Leaves glossy beneath, broadly ovate with a heart-shaped base, or three-lobed, coarsely toothed, glabrous; 34 to 2 in. long, 12 to 112 in. wide; stalk 12 to 112 in. long. Flower solitary or in pairs, on a stalk 1 to 2 in. long; sepals oval, dull white or cream-coloured, downy outside; the whole flower 112 to 212 in. across, produced in winter. Seed-vessels terminated by plumose styles 112 to 2 in. long, forming large, beautifully silky tassels. Blooms January to March. Bot. Mag., t. 1070.

Native of the Mediterranean region; first discovered in Andalucia by the botanist Clusius in the latter half of the sixteenth century, and soon afterwards introduced to Britain. It appears to be hardier than var. balearica, but at Kew does not flower so well, nor has it the beautifully cut, bronzy foliage that is so attractive in its ally. The flowers are sometimes stained inside with narrow, irregular, reddish-purple spots (f. purpurascens Willk.), or may be wholly red.

From the Supplement (Vol. V)

A feature of this species and its variety, omitted from the description, is that below each flower (or pair of flowers) there are two bracts, united so as to form a cup-shaped involucre.


var. balearica (Rich.) Willk. & Lange C.

Synonyms
balearica Rich.
C. calycina Ait

This variety differs from the type mainly in its finely divided, somewhat fern­like leaves, the larger ones deeply and doubly toothed, the smaller ones simply three- or five-lobed; they are 1{1/2} to 3 in. long, the ultimate subdivisions linear and pointed. In summer the foliage is dark green, in winter it becomes bronzy purple. The flowers are produced from September to March. It reaches a height of 10 to 15 ft in this country.Native of Majorca, Minorca, Corsica, etc.; introduced to Kew by way of Paris, in 1783. It is not so hardy as the type, but has lived out-of-doors at Kew merely trained up tree branches, flowering throughout the winter whenever the weather was mild. On account of its blossoming in midwinter, and the beauty of its finely cut foliage at that season, it is well worth a sunny, sheltered spot, although the flowers are not showy. It thrives well on a wall in the R.H.S. Garden at Wisley.