E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia
Clematis occidentalis var. grosseserrata (Hornem.) DC. (Rydb.) Roy L. Taylor & MacBryde Columbia bower (Columbia clematis; western blue clematis; western blue virginsbower) Ranunculaceae (Buttercup family)
General: Perennial vine; stems climbing to 2 m high or trailing on the ground to 5 m long.
Leaves: Opposite, long-stalked, firm, 3-parted, the leaflets short-stalked, lance egg-shaped to triangular, 2-11 cm long, thin, not lobed or occasionally 1- to 3-lobed, margins usually entire, occasionally shallow-toothed, hairy when young, becoming smooth, tips pointed; the stalks persisting, acting as tendrils.
Flowers: Inflorescence of nodding or inclined, solitary flowers on long, erect stalks at ends of short branches from previous year's stems, rarely terminal on long shoots of current year's stems, the flowers bisexual; petals absent; sepals 4, usually becoming wide-spreading, violet-blue to pale blue, narrowly egg-shaped, 3-6 cm long, soft-hairy, tips sharp-pointed; stamens 20-50; pistils 40-175.
Fruits: Achenes, elliptic, soft-hairy; beaks 3-5 cm long, feathery-hairy.
Mesic to dry rocky slopes, thickets, bluffs and open forests in the steppe to subalpine zones; frequent in S BC east of the Coast-Cascade Mountains, less frequent northward; E to SK and S to WA, ID and MT.
Ecological Framework for Clematis occidentalis var. grosseserrata
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range. (Updated August, 2013)
