CLEMATIS. Ill 



CLEMATIS. 



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KANUNCULACEJE. POLYANDRIA POLYGYNIA. 



Called frequently, virgin's bower, or traveller's joy. French, 1'herbe 

 au gueux [beggar's herb] ; la viorne ; viorne des pauvres [poor man's 

 rest] ; la consolation des voyageurs [traveller's consolation] ; in the 

 villages, vouabla, a corruption of the Latin name vitalba [white vine]. 

 Italian, vitalba; clematite. Clematis is derived from the Greek,, 

 and signifies a clasper. It fastens itself for support to any tree or twig 

 within its reach. 



THESE are, for the most part, climbing plants, needing 

 support, and should be placed where they may run up a 

 wall or balcony. They will not flower so strongly in pots 

 as in the open ground ; but must not, on this account, be 

 rejected. The Evergreen Clematis would require to be 

 planted in a tub of some magnitude : it grows to the height 

 of eight or ten feet, and becomes very thick and bushy. 

 The flowers are of a greenish colour, and appear in De- 

 cember or January. It retains its leaves all the year. 

 Gerarde gives it the name of Traveller's Joy of Candia ; 

 Johnson, Spanish Traveller's Joy ; and Parkinson, Spanish 

 Wild Climber. 



Purple Clematis grows naturally in the woods of Spain 

 and Italy: there are several varieties, the Single Red- 

 flowered, Blue-flowered, and Purple-flowered, and the 

 Double Purple ; which flower in June, July, and August : 

 and another with white flowers, which appear in May. 

 Gerarde gives this species the name of Climbing Ladies' 

 Bower, " from its aptness," he says, " to make bowers or 

 arbours in gardens." 



The Curled Clematis is a native of Carolina, Florida, 



and Japan ; the stalks grow near four feet high, and fasten 

 themselves by their claspers or tendrils to the neighbouring 



plants. The flowers are purple, and blow in July. 



