Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses - Fremont's clematis

FREMONT'S CLEMATIS

File Size: 61 KB

Clematis fremontii S. Wats.

Mitchell County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 6-16 inches

Family: Ranunculaceae - Buttercup Family

Flowering Period: April, May

Also Called:

Fremont's leather-plant.

Stems:

Erect, stout, more or less soft hairy.

Leaves:

Opposite, simple, sessile, ovate, to 4 inches long, to 3 inches wide, leathery, prominently net-veined; margins entire to sparingly toothed; tips blunt or pointed.

Inflorescences:

1 flower on stalks .25 to 1.5 inches long, terminal.

Flowers:

Urn-shaped, drooping, 1 inch long; sepals 4, thick, leathery, outer surface purple, inner surface white to cream; margins woolly; tips recurved; petals absent; stamens numerous.

Fruits:

Achenes in spherical heads, to 1 inch in diameter; styles persistent, 1/2 inch long, curving, silky at base, smooth above.

Habitat:

Rocky prairie hillsides on limestone soils.

Distribution:

North-central Kansas.

Comments:

Found only in north-central Kansas, south-central Nebraska, and a separate area in southeastern Missouri. Populations in southern and eastern Missouri are considered by some botanists to be a distinct variety. The plant's name honors General John C. Fremont who made expeditions across the West and discovered many new plant species. When dry, the plant rattles when rustled by the wind.

Fremont's clematis