232 



ARBOIIETUM AND FRUTICETUM. 



PART III. 



includes the ligneous genera, Xanthorhiza and Pasonia, which even a super- 

 ficial obserm' may recognise as differing, in habit and appearance, from the 

 genera Clematis and Jtragene, which are slender-stemmed cHmbers, while the 

 others are herbaceous-looking undershrubs. 



Sect. I. CLEMATl'DEiE. 



These are climbers, characterised by having the estivation of the calyx 

 valvate or induphcate; with no petals, or with the petals flat; the anther 

 opening outwards; the carpels, or seed-vessels, not opening; one-seeded, 

 terminated by a tail, which is the indurated style. Seed pendulous. Leaves 

 opposite. Deciduous and evergreen climbers. The genera are two ; Clematis 

 and Jtragene, which are thus contradistinguished : — 

 Cle'matis L. Petals none. 

 Jtrage^nb L, Petals several. 



Genus I. 



J 





I 



\ 



I 



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CLE'MATIS L. The Clematis, or Virgin's Bower. Lin. Syst. Poly- 



andria Polygynia. 



Identification. The word Klematis is said by Donnegan to have been used by Theophrastus, cap. 5.10., 

 as well as Atxa^hne, to designate the Clematis Vltalba of Linnaeus. Clematis was used by Matthiolus, 

 and also by Clusius, who applied it to C. Viticulla L. and C. cirihosa L. It has been since generally 

 applied to this family of plants by botanists. 



Synomjtnes. Ladies' Bower Gemrrf; Clematite, Fr. ; Waldrebe, Gfer. ; Clematide, /toZ. 



Derivations. The word Clematis, or Klematis, is derived from the Greek word klUma, a small 

 branch of a vine ; and it is applied to this genus, because most of the plants composing it climb like 

 a vine. The English name of Ladies' Bower was probably adopted from its suitableness for covering 

 bowers; and, as the first kind of clematis brought to England (C Viticella) was introduced in 

 1569, during the reign of Elizabeth, the name of Virgin's Bower might be intended to convey a 

 compliment to that sovereign, who, as it is well known, liked to be called the Virgin Queen. The 

 German name, Waldrebe, is compounded olwald, a wood, and rebe, the branch of a vine. 



Generic Character. Involucre none, or situated under the flower, in the form of 

 a calyx. Calyx of from four to eight coloured sepals. Petals none. Car- 

 pels numerous, aggregate, terminated by a long, and mostly feathery, tail. — 

 Climbing shrubs, with variously cut opposite leaves. The recent herb of all 

 the species is acrid, and, when applied to the skin, it occasions blisters. 

 (Do7i's Mill., i. p. 3.) The seed is pendulous, and the carpels are one- 

 seeded ; each is terminated by a persistent style, and does not open until rup- 

 tured by the germination of the seed. 



Description, 4-e. Root strong ; the fibres rather straight, and not very much 

 branched; extended in the soil rather horizontally than perpendicularly. 

 Stem ligneous, not rigid enough to stand erect. Bi-anches the same, and 

 slender. Leaves in decussating pairs ; the petiole possessed of a clasping 

 power, the eflfect of which is the prehension of contiguous plants and objects. 

 The rate of growth in C, Vitalba and C. Flammula is among the most rapid 

 known in the plants of temperate climates, particularly in the shoots which a 

 well-established vigorous plant throws up, after it has been cut down to the 

 ground. The most ornamental species are C. Viticella and C. florida ; the 

 most rapidly growing for covering bowers is C. Vitalba. The kind most fragrant 

 in its flowers is C. Flammula. 



Geography, History, Uses, S^c. Most of the hardy species of Clematis are 

 natives of the middle and south of Europe, and of North America ; a few of 

 them are natives of the north of Africa, some of Siberia ; there are several in 

 the Himalaya, one in China, and several in Japan. The genus has been known 

 since the days of Theophrastus, and has received various accessions from the 



