CLEMATIS 365 



profusion. In Britain it lacks, no doubt, sufficient summer sun to bring out its 

 best qualities, and would be best against a south wall. It is an ally of 

 C. Flammula, but much more vigorous. 



C. PATENS, Morren. 



(C. coerulea, Lindley ; Bot. Reg., t. 1955.) 



A deciduous climber, growing 8 to 12 ft. high. Leaves composed of three 

 or five leaflets with downy stalks ; leaflets lanceolate ; 2 to 4 ins. long, i to 2^ 

 ins. wide, pointed, smooth above, downy beneath. Flowers solitary on downy 

 stalks without bracts ; 4 to 6 ins. across ; sepals six to eight, long-pointed, 

 wide-spreading, and more separated from each other than in C. florida (q.v.\ 

 In the typical C. patens the flowers are said to be white, but this is probably 

 not in cultivation now, and the cultivated forms of the patens group vary from 

 white tinged with violet to deep violet-blue. Seed-vessels with silky tails. 



Commonly cultivated in, and probably a native of Japan, whence it was 

 introduced to Europe in 1836 by Siebold, who had found it in a garden near 

 Yokohama. It is the parent of a group of garden clematises inferior in 

 importance to those only of C. lanuginosa and C. Jackmani. Some 

 authorities regard it as a variety of C. florida ; the distinctions are pointed out 

 under that species. The patens varieties flower in May and June, and need no 

 pruning beyond the removal of dead wood. 



C. PITCHERT, Torrey and Cray. 



A deciduous climber, 9 to 12 ft. high ; young stems downy. Leaves pinnate 

 composed of three to seven leaflets, which are ovate, with a rounded or slightly 

 heart-shaped base, sometimes two- or three-lobed, or even trifoliolate ; i to 3 ins. 

 long, half as wide ; strongly net-veined, and more or less downy beneath. 

 The terminal leaflet is often reduced to a tendril. Flower solitary on a downy 

 stalk, 2 to 4 ins. long. Sepals purplish blue outside, f to i ins. long, the 

 tapering points slightly reflexed, showing the greenish yellow inner surface, 

 margins downy ; the margins of the sepals converge, giving the flower the urn 

 or pitcher shape characteristic of the Viorna group to which this belongs. 

 Seed-vessels almost circular, but narrowed at the top to a slightly downy (not 

 feathery) style f in. long. 



Native of the Central Pnited States ; introduced to Kew in 1878. It has 

 been confused in French periodicals with C. coccinea, which differs not only 

 in the colour of the flowers, but is, like another ally, C. Viorna, distinguished by 

 the plumed styles. C. Pitcheri is the best of the Viorna group in gardens ; 

 the stems do not die back so much in winter as the others. It flowers from the 

 end of May to September, never making any great display at one time. 



C. REHDERIANA, Craib. 



(C. nutans, Hort. not Royle ; C. n. var. thyrsoidea, Rehder ; C. Buchaniana, Hon., 



not De Candolle?) 



A deciduous climber up to 25 ft. high, with angled, downy stems. Leaves 

 pinnate, 6 to 9 ins. long, consisting of usually seven or nine leaflets. Leaflets 

 broadly ovate, pointed, heart-shaped at the base, often three-lobed, coarsely 

 toothed; \\ to 3 ins. long, about two-thirds as wide; more or less downy 

 above, clothed with silky down and conspicuously veined beneath; stalk of 

 leaflets i to i\ ins. long, hairy. Flowers mostly nodding, fragrant like cow- 

 slips; borne on erect, downy, ribbed panicles 5 to 9 ins. high from August to 

 October, The four sepals are of a soft primrose yellow, ribbed, and form a 

 bell- shaped perianth J to in. long; their points are recurved, and they are 



