Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses - Pitcher's clematis

PITCHER'S CLEMATIS

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Clematis pitcheri T. & G.

Ellsworth County, Kansas

Perennial vine

Height: Climbing or trailing on ground

Family: Ranunculaceae - Buttercup Family

Flowering Period: May, June, July, August

Also Called:

Pitcher's leather flower, bluebill, bluebell.

Stems:

Vine, somewhat woody, up to many feet in length, climbing on other vegetation or scrambling along ground, pubescent to glabrous.

Leaves:

Opposite, variable in shape, size and texture, pinnately-compound; leaflets 3-11, (usually 3-5), lance-ovate to cordate-ovate, firm, prominently net-veined, glabrous; surfaces green; margins entire but lowest and largest sometimes 2-3-lobed, occasionally deeply so; largest leaflets 1.2 to 3.6 inches long, 1 to 2+ inches wide; smaller leaflets often with tendril-like stalks; apical leaflet sometimes represented tendrils.

Inflorescences:

Solitary flowers, in leaf axils, long-stalked, nodding; pair of bracts near base.

Flowers:

Calyx urn-shaped; sepals 4, petal-like, .4 to 1.4 inch long, leathery, outer surface dull purplish, inner surface darker purple; margins pubescent; tips curved backward; petals absent; stamens numerous.

Fruits:

Achenes in spherical heads; each achene .3 to .5 inch long, silky-pubescent near base, tipped by persistent, tail-like style .4 to 1.2 inch long, curved, partially glabrous to silky-hairy.

Habitat:

Near streams, low or rocky open woods, thickets, fence rows; level ground or slopes; dry or moist soils.

Distribution:

East 1/2 of Kansas.

Comments:

Named for Zina Pitcher, 1797-1872, botanist, physician, and mayor of Detroit. The mature achenes can be planted, but the soil must be deep and rich. Pitcher's clematis is pollinated by bees.

Pitcher's clematis flower