128 FLOWERS OF THE ROADSIDES AND HEDGES 



Traveller's Joy (Clematis Vitalba, L.) 



This plant is found in Interglacial beds at Stoke Newington as well 

 as in Paleolithic deposits. It ranges in Europe, south of Holland, 

 N. Africa, W. Asia, or in the Warm Temperate Zone. In Great 

 Britain it occurs in most districts, being absent from Brecon, Radnor, 

 Montgomery, Merioneth in Wales, and South Lincoln, S.E. Yorks, 

 Cheviotland in England. In the northern counties away from the 

 chalk or oolite it is probably not native, being a southern type. In 

 Scotland it is found only in Lanark, Haddington, Edinburgh, Fife, 

 Perth, Westerness, Main Argyle, and Dumbarton. It is not native in 

 Scotland or Ireland. 



The Traveller's Joy, as its name suggests, is a plant of the way- 

 sides and hedgerows, along which it was doubtless planted in the past. 

 It is par excellence a lover of the chalky soils of the Downs, where 

 it is seen at its best, forming rambling masses which cover the upright 

 shrubs that grow in similar habitats, the Wayfaring Tree, the White 

 Beam, or it may be the Hazel. In the summer its tangled bowers 

 afford a fine arbour amongst which the birds may nest, and in the 

 winter a shelter from the cold winds and rain. It is adapted to a 

 dry soil and may be regarded as a xerophile. It is essentially a 

 climbing plant, on which account it is much used in gardens, and 

 elsewhere, to form arbours, being called Great Wild Climber. 



Its generic name in Latin refers to the tendrils which assist it in 

 its rambling career over hedge and bush. These are highly developed, 

 and very strong and elastic, and are really the leaf-stalks. 



Traveller's Joy is best recognized when in fruit, by the long 

 feathery awns or persistent styles which it possesses, assisting in its 

 dispersal. The Clematis habit is marked, the stem is woody, the 

 leaves, which are compound, are arranged on either side of a common 

 leaf-stalk, and there are no stipules or leaflike organs. The flowers 

 are characterized by numerous greenish or sulphur- coloured stamens 

 and styles, 4 white sepals in place of petals. The flowers are sweet 

 and small, but numerous, clustered, hence the name White Vine. 



The Wild Clematis is often 20 ft. or more high. Flowers last 

 from July to August or September. The plant is perennial, being 

 a deciduous climbing shrub. 



No honey is secreted. In an allied species, C. recta, there is no 

 honey, but insects visit it for pollen. It is proterandrous, that is, the 

 anthers ripen first, and if the stamens had shed all their pollen before 



