60 
CLEMATIS crispa. 
The crisp-flowered Clematis. 
POLYANDRIA POLYGYNIA. 
Nat. ord. RANUNCULACEX. (Cnowroors, Vegetable Kingdom, p.425.) 
CLEMATIS.—L. 
Section ViriceLLa. Stems climbing. Flowers solitary, long-stalked, more 
or less leathery. 
C. crispa; foliolis supremis linearibus lanceolatisve integerrimis bilobisque 
infimis subrotundis nunc trilobis, sepalis coriaceis medio constrictis apice 
recurvis crispatis, achzeniis maturis brevi-caudatis eplumosis. 
C. flore crispo, Dill. elth. 1. £. 73. 
C. crispa, Linn. sp. pl. 765.  DeCand. Syst. 1. 162. 
The plants cultivated in gardens, or mentioned by modern 
authors under the names of C. Viorna, crispa, reticulata, 
cylindrica, rosea, &c., present a scene of confusion such as is 
rarely seen even among Botanical compilations. Every body 
has every one of these things, but each has something dif- 
ferent from his neighbour. This has arisen from the un- 
skilful, not to say careless, manner in which the modern 
writers on Clematis have fulfilled their task. 
Let us take C. Viorna as an example. 'This common plant, 
well known to the old writers, and perfectly distinguished by 
its small leathery dull brownish purple flowers, is well repre- 
sented by Jacquin, in his Eclogues, who understood the force 
of Ray's definition, “ purpurea, repens, petalis florum co- 
riaceis.” It was, however, miserably characterized by Lin- 
neus, and hence the confusion that has attended its history. 
For instance, the great purple-flowered species, now called 
C. Hendersonü, was figured for it in Andrews's Repository ; 
and Torrey and Gray quote, as its synonym, the C. cordata 
of the Botanical Magazine, which has as little resemblance 
to it. 
What this C. cordata may be does not clearly appear ; it 
is probably the same as a. plant subsequently figured in the 
