61 
CLEMATIS lathyrifolia. 
Large-flowered erect Clematis. 
POLYANDRIA POLYGYNIA. 
Nat. ord. RANUNCULACEZ. 
CLEMATIS. Botanical Register, vol. 2. fol. 97. 
C. lathyrifolia ; herbacea, erecta, foliis pinnatis: foliolis ovato-lanceolatis in- 
tegerrimis 2-3-lobisve, corymbis paniculatis, sepalis 4-5 obovatis tomentosis, 
carpellis eum caudá villosis, 
C. lathyrifolia, Besser. sec. Reichenbach fl. excurs. germ. 2. 734. 
The two common hardy herbaceous plants, Clematis erecta 
and angustifolia, although placed at a great distance from 
each other in M. DeCandolle's distribution of the genus, are 
nevertheless so nearly related that there can be no doubt of 
their immediate affinity. In fact they cannot be distin- 
guished by the characters given them in the Prodromus, 
which are almost equally applicable to either. C. angusti- 
folia is said to have one flower only on a common stalk, 
which is never the case in the garden specimens, neither do 
I find it so in my wild specimens of the supposed variety 
C. lasiantha from Dahuria. The real distinction between 
them consists, as Reichenbach has well observed, in the 
narrow leaves and hairy carpels of one, as compared with the 
broad ovate leaves and smooth carpels of the other. 
But to which are we to refer the present plant ? Reichen- 
bach considers it a mere variety of C. erecta, which is 1m- 
possible, for it has the leaves and fruit of C. angustifolia ; but 
it will not arrange exactly with the latter plant, for its flowers 
are in a loose corymbose panicle, and are much larger, and 
its whole aspect is different ; in the size of its flowers 1t cor- 
responds with the above-mentioned C. lasiantha, which seems 
a good species, and not a mere variety of C. angustifolia. 
This may indeed be regarded as a variety of C. lasiantha ; 
