Clematis[pronunciation note 1] is a genus of about 300 species[6] within the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae.

Their
garden hybrids have been popular among gardeners,[7] beginning with Clematis  ×  jackmanii, a garden
standby since 1862; more hybrid cultivars are being produced constantly. They are mainly of Chinese
and Japanese origin. Most species are known as clematis in English, while some are also known
as traveller's joy, a name invented for the sole British native, C. vitalba, by the herbalist John
Gerard; virgin's bower for C. terniflora, C. virginiana, and C. viticella; old man's beard, applied to
several with prominent seedheads; leather flower for those with fleshy petals; or vase vine for the
North American Clematis viorna.

The genus name is from Ancient Greek clématis, ("a climbing plant"). Over 250 species
and cultivars are known, often named for their originators or particular characteristics.

The genus is composed of mostly vigorous, woody, climbing vines / lianas. The woody stems are quite
fragile until several years old.[7] Leaves are opposite and divided into leaflets and leafstalks that twist and
curl around supporting structures to anchor the plant as it climbs. [7] Some species are shrubby, while
others, like C. recta, are herbaceous perennial plants. The cool temperate species are deciduous, but
many of the warmer climate species are evergreen. They grow best in cool, moist, well-drained soil in
full sun.[8]
Clematis species are mainly found throughout the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, rarely
in the tropics. Clematis leaves are food for the caterpillars of some Lepidoptera species, including
the willow beauty (Peribatodes rhomboidaria).
The timing and location of flowers varies; spring-blooming clematis flower on side shoots of the previous
year's stems, summer/fall blooming clematis bloom only on the ends of new stems, and twice-flowering
clematis do both.[7]
The genus Clematis was first published by Carl Linnaeus in Species Plantarum in 1753,[9] the first
species listed being Clematis viticella. The genus name long pre-dates Linnaeus. It was used
in Classical Greek for various climbing plants, and is based on κλήμα (klēma), meaning vine or tendril. [10]

Archiclematis and Naravelia[edit]
Some morphologically distinctive taxa lacking the combination of characters defining Clematis were
formerly segregated as the genera Archiclematis (1 species) and Naravelia (several species). DNA
sequence studies have found that these two genera are deeply nested in Clematis, the morphological
characters they were erected on being either reversals or misinterpretations, and that consequently the
genera should be reduced to the synonymy of Clematis. Naravelia is a monophyletic group
within Clematis.[11][12][13]
Species to be transferred include

 Clematis alternata syn. Archiclematis alternata

 Clematis antonii, syn. Naravelia antonii
 Clematis dasyoneura, syn. Naravelia dasyoneura
 Clematis horripilata, syn. Naravelia laurifolia
 Clematis zeylanica, syn. Naravelia zeylanica
Species[edit]
Large, dark purple clematis flower with white finger stamens in sunlight

Purple clematis

Clematis armandii

Clematis 'Multi Blue'
Clematis florida

C. montana

Flowers of C. vitalba

Seed heads of C. vitalba growing in a hedge, showing why it is known colloquially as "old man's beard"

Achenes
Fruits of C. dioica in Guanacaste, Costa Rica

C. terniflora seed cluster

A partial list of species:

 Clematis addisonii Britt. – Addison's leather flower

 Clematis albicoma Wherry – whitehair leather flower
 Clematis alpina (L.) Mill. – alpine clematis
 Clematis aristata R.Br. ex Ker Gawl.[14] – Australian clematis
 Clematis armandii – Armand clematis
 Clematis baldwinii Torr. & A.Gray – pine hyacinth
 Clematis bigelovii Torr. – Bigelow clematis
 Clematis brachiata Thunb. – traveller's joy
 Clematis campaniflora Brot. – Portuguese clematis
 Clematis catesbyana – satin curls
 Clematis chinensis Osbeck – wei ling xian in Chinese (Chinese: 威靈仙; pinyin: Wei ling xian)
 Clematis chrysocoma Franch. – gold wool clematis
 Clematis cirrhosa L. – includes the 'Freckles', 'Wisley Cream', and 'Jingle Bells' cultivars
o Clematis cirrhosa v. balearica (Balearic Islands)
 Clematis coactilis (Fern.) Keener – Virginia whitehair leather flower
 Clematis columbiana (Nutt.) Torr. & A.Gray – British Columbia virgin's bower
 Clematis crispa L. – swamp leather flower
 Clematis cunninghamii
 Clematis dioica L. – cabellos de angel
 Clematis drummondii Torr. & A.Gray – Drummond clematis
 Clematis durandii
 Clematis fawcettii F.Muell.[15]
 Clematis flammula L. – fragrant virgin's bower
 Clematis florida Thunb. – Asian clematis
 Clematis fremontii S.Watson – Fremont's leather flower
 Clematis glaucophylla Small – whiteleaf leather flower
 Clematis glycinoides DC. – headache vine[16]
 Clematis gouriana – Indian traveller's joy
 Clematis henryi Oliv.
 Clematis hirsutissima Pursh – hairy clematis
 Clematis hedysarifolia DC.
 Clematis integrifolia L.
 Clematis ispahanica Bioss
 Clematis × jackmanii T.Moore – Jackman's clematis
 Clematis koreana Kom. – Korean clematis
 Clematis lanuginosa Lindl. & Paxton
 Clematis lasiantha Nutt. – pipestem clematis
 Clematis leptophylla (F.Muell. ex Benth.) H.Eichler[17]
 Clematis ligusticifolia Nutt. – western white clematis, hierba de chivo
 Clematis macropetala Ledeb. – downy clematis
 Clematis mandshurica
 Clematis marmoraria Sneddon – New Zealand dwarf clematis
 Clematis microphylla DC. – small-leaved clematis[18]
 Clematis montana Buch.-Ham. ex DC. – anemone clematis
 Clematis morefieldii Kral – Huntsville vasevine
 Clematis napaulensis DC.
 Clematis occidentalis (Hornem.) DC. – western blue virginsbower
 Clematis ochroleuca Ait. – curlyheads
 Clematis orientalis L. – Chinese clematis
 Clematis palmeri Rose – Palmer clematis
 Clematis paniculata J.F.Gmel. – puawhananga
 Clematis patens C.Morren & Decne.
 Clematis pauciflora Nutt. – ropevine clematis
 Clematis pickeringii A.Gray[19][20]
 Clematis pitcheri Torr. & A.Gray – bluebill
 Clematis pubescens Hügel ex Endl. – common clematis
 Clematis recta L. – ground clematis
 Clematis reticulata Walter – netleaf leather flower
 Clematis rhodocarpa Rose
 Clematis smilacifolia Wall.
 Clematis socialis Kral – Alabama leather flower
 Clematis stans Siebold & Zucc. – kusabotan
 Clematis tangutica (Maxim.) Korsh. – golden clematis
 Clematis terniflora DC. – sweet autumn clematis
 Clematis texensis Buckley – scarlet leather flower
 Clematis versicolor – manycolored leather flower
 Clematis verticillaris – purple virgins bower[21]
 Clematis viorna L. – vasevine, traveller's joy
 Clematis virginiana L. – devil's darning needles, Virginia bower
 Clematis viridiflora [sv] Bertol.[22]
 Clematis vitalba L. – traveller's joy, old man's beard
 Clematis viticaulis E.Steele – Millboro leather flower
 Clematis viticella L. – Italian leather flower, purple clematis
Formerly placed here[edit]

 Akebia trifoliata (Thunb.) Koidz. (as C. trifoliata Thunb.)

Subdivisions[edit]
One recent classification recognised 297 species of clematis, so it is not surprising that taxonomists and
gardeners subdivide the genus. Several classification systems exist.
Magnus Johnson divided Clematis into 19 sections, several with subsections.[23] Christopher Grey-
Wilson divided the genus into
9 subgenera (Clematis, Cheiropsis, Flammula, Archiclematis, Campanella, Atragene, Tubulosae, Pseu
danemone, Viorna), several with sections and subsections within them. [24] Several of the subdivisions
are fairly consistent between these two systems; for example, all of Grey-Wilson's subgenera are used
as sections by Johnson. Alternatively, John Howell defined twelve groups: the Evergreen, Alpina,
Macropetala, Montana, Rockery, Early Large-Flowered, Late Large-Flowered, Herbaceous, Viticella,
Texensis, Orientalis, and Late Mixed groups.[25] Thorncroft Clematis, published their catalogue of 2000
with 8 subdivisions of clematis which was refined by 2006 to 16, those being Armandii, Atragene,
Cirrhosa, Diversifolia, Flammula, Florida, Forsteri, Heracleifolia, Integrifolia, Montana, Tangutica,
Texensis, Viticella, Early Large Flowered, Late Large Flowered and Species. For the most part the
gardening public can understand these groups easily and yet this grouping system also offers enough
diversity to divide clematis into meaningful groups for classification purposes. The RHS published its
International Clematis Register and Checklist 2002 which acknowledges Wim Snoeijer of The
Netherlands as the proposer of some of these new groups and he also influenced Thorncroft Clematis in
the way their subdivisions were established.
Many of the most popular garden forms are cultivars belonging to the Viticella section of the
subgenus Flammula as defined by Grey-Wilson. These larger-flowered cultivars are often used within
garden designs to climb archways, pergolas, or wall-mounted trellises, or to grow through companion
plants. These forms normally have large 12–15 cm diameter upward-facing flowers and are believed to
involve crosses of C. patens, C. lanuginosa, and C. viticella.[26] Early-season, large-flowering forms such
as 'Nelly Moser' tend towards the natural flowering habit of C. patens or C. lanuginosa while later-
flowering forms such as ×jackmanii are nearer in habit to C. viticella.