Native & Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas & Georgia

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3209

Herbaceous vine
Perennial

Native to North Carolina

Documented growing wild in - NC -

Rare

Look for it on rocky slopes over mafic rocks (greenstone, amphibolite) (known positively in NC only from amphibolite peaks in Ashe County), per Weakley's Flora

map
To see a detailed map, click here

 

LEAVES:
Odd-pinnately compound: 3 leaflets
Opposite
Leaves have petioles.

FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Dull blue-violet
Radially symmetrical
4 petaloid sepals
Petals absent
Numerous stamens
Superior ovary
Flowers solitary in leaf axils

FRUIT:
Brownish
Aggregate of achenes

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Ranunculales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
 Clematis occidentalis var. occidentalis   FAMILY Ranunculaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
 Clematis occidentalis var. occidentalis   FAMILY Ranunculaceae

INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 076-10-009x:
 Clematis verticillaris   FAMILY Ranunculaceae

INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933)
 Atragene americana

 

COMMON NAME:
 Mountain Clematis, Purple Clematis

Click or hover over the thumbnails to see larger pictures.

image of Clematis occidentalis var. occidentalis, Mountain Clematis, Purple Clematis

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913    pnd_atam2_001_lvd

        

image of Clematis occidentalis var. occidentalis, Mountain Clematis, Purple Clematis

Bruce A. Sorrie    bas_c_occidentalis1

June    Park County    WY

image of Clematis occidentalis var. occidentalis, Mountain Clematis, Purple Clematis

Bruce A. Sorrie    bas_c_occidentalis1b

June    Park County    WY

These large, dull blue flowers are up to 2" and have thin-textured sepals, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains.