LEATHERFLOWER 



Clematis viorna Linnaeus 



The leatherflower is not so showy as the other members of the 

 clematis group, nevertheless its graceful stems and leaves and reddish 

 purple blossoms are not uninteresting. The sepals are remarkable in 

 being a sixteenth of an inch thick, as if made of leather instead of the 

 delicate tissue usual in flowers in which petals are lacking and the sepals 

 are required to take their place. The feathery fruit, more attractive than 

 the flowers, is erect and silky, each individual "seed" possessing a tail 

 almost two inches long, by means of which it may be carried by the 

 wind, when ripe, to a favorable situation. 



This scrambling vine may be found in thickets where the soil is 

 rocky but rather rich, from Alabama and Georgia northward to Ohio 

 and Pennsylvania. 



The sketch was made from a specimen gathered near Washington, 

 District of Columbia. 



PLATE 41 



