Stems ± viny, climbing or trailing, 0.25-3.5 m. Leaves: leaflets unlobed or occasionally 1-3-lobed, (2-)3-6(-10) cm, margins entire or shallowly crenate-serrate. Flowers: sepals remaining moderately divergent, reddish violet, ovate to oblong-elliptic, 2.5-6 cm, margins not fluted, tips rounded-mucronate to nearly acuminate. 2n = 16.

Phenology: Flowering spring.
Habitat: Calcareous cliffs, rock ledges, talus slopes, gravelly embankments, rocky woods, and clearings
Elevation: 0-1300 m

Distribution

• Generated Map
• Legacy Map

N.B., Ont., Que., Conn., Del., Ill., Iowa, Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., N.H., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Pa., R.I., Vt., Va., W.Va., Wis.

Discussion

Clematis occidentalis var. occidentalis formerly occurred in Ohio. Plants in the western part of the range of this variety tend to have larger, more abruptly tapering sepals; they have been segregated as var. grandiflora B.Boivin, but they do not appear to constitute a distinct taxon.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.