

THE 

 PURPLE CLEMATIS. 



Clematis rttbro-violacea. 



YBRIDS of the more showy 

 species of clematis are now so 

 numerous as to constitute a dis- 

 tinct and large class of garden 

 flowers. The parents of these 

 many splendid varieties, of 

 which Clematis patens, C. lartu- 

 f/inosa, C. vilicella, and C. For- 

 tnnei may be named as having 

 afforded the strongest characters, 

 are for the most part traceable 

 in them by the eye of an expert; 

 but it happens that in a majority 

 of instances the pedigrees have 

 been preserved, and therefore a 

 collection of clematis may be 

 studied with advantage by the scientific botanist, as they 

 may be by the lover of flowers, for the sake of their beauty 

 only. The variety figured is one of the most interesting in 

 the scientific and historical view of the subject. In the 

 year 1835 Mr. Henderson, a London nurseryman and hor- 

 ticulturist, raised a new hybrid, which was named in his 

 honour Clematis Hendersoni. It was believed to be the 

 result of a cross between C. viticella and C. int-egrifolia. 



