Clematis quinquefoliata Hutchins.

An evergreen climber with ribbed, downy stems. Leaves composed of five leaflets pinnately arranged, the main leaf-stalk 6 in. long. Leaflets lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, rounded or heart-shaped at the base, bluntish or short-pointed at the end; 2 to 4 in. long, one-third as much wide; downy in the grooved midrib above, otherwise glabrous. Flowers produced during early autumn from the leaf-axils in cymes consisting of three, five, or seven flowers, each of which is 11⁄2 to 2 in. wide. Sepals four to six, milky white, narrowly oblong, 1⁄6 to 1⁄4 in. wide, downy beneath and especially at the margins; stamens very numerous, anthers yellow. Seed-vessel silky, terminated by a style 2 to 3 in. long and clothed with brownish-yellow, silky hairs.

Native of China in the provinces of Hupeh and Szechwan; discovered by Henry, introduced by Wilson in 1900 and flowered in the Coombe Wood nursery in September 1906. It belongs to the same group as C. armandii and C. meyeniana but is well distinguished by its five-foliolate leaves. As seen at Coombe Wood it was a vigorous, quite ornamental climber, but does not appear to have spread in cultivation. Wilson commented on the strikingly handsome fulvous-hued styles of the fruits.