Common names:
Ropevine, few-flowered clematis
Family:
Scientific name:
Clematis pauciflora
Main flower color:
Range:
Southern California
Height:
A vine - grows on other vegetation; woody stems many feet long
Habitat:
Chaparral, up to 4,000 feet
Leaves:
Opposite, pinnately divided into 3 or 5 toothed, hairless, lobed leaflets, these up to 1.4 inches long
Season:
January to June
Leaves of clematis pauciflora are divided into five, less often three leaflets, ovate in outline, shallowly irregularly lobed, shiny and hairless. Leaves are oppositely arranged on the long stems, which grow on other vegetation for support.
Flowers may be solitary, or in clusters of two or three (occasionally up to ten); fewer than other clematis species. The creamy-white sepals, up to half an inch long, are hairless above, hairy below, and are reflexed when mature. There are no petals. Above the sepals are between 25 and 50 stamens, and a similar number of pistils, all relatively thick, and about the same length as the sepals. Fruits are dry, one-seeded capsules, with a long, curving, feathery style at the tip.
Flowers may be solitary, or in clusters of two or three (occasionally up to ten); fewer than other clematis species. The creamy-white sepals, up to half an inch long, are hairless above, hairy below, and are reflexed when mature. There are no petals. Above the sepals are between 25 and 50 stamens, and a similar number of pistils, all relatively thick, and about the same length as the sepals. Fruits are dry, one-seeded capsules, with a long, curving, feathery style at the tip.
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