E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Clematis vitalba L.
traveler's joy (evergreen clematis)
Ranunculaceae (Buttercup family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

Distribution of Clematis vitalba
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Species Information

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Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

General:
Perennial woody vine; stems climbing, to 12 m long, grooved, sparsely hairy.

Leaves:
Opposite, long-stalked, pinnately compound, the leaflets 5, stalked, heart-shaped, to 8 cm long, 3-5 cm wide, coarsely toothed to entire, minutely-hairy on veins below, smooth above; the stalks act as tendrils.

Flowers:
Inflorescence of axillary and terminal cymes of 5 to 22 flowers, the flowers bisexual; bracts small; flower stalks slender, 1-1.5 cm long, minutely-hairy; petals absent; sepals 4 (-6), wide-spreading, white to cream, elliptic or egg-shaped to oblanceolate, about 1 cm long, about 0.5 cm wide, densely woolly-hairy on both surfaces; stamens about 50; pistils 20 or more.

Fruits:
Achenes, rounded, densely-hairy; beaks about 3.5 cm long, feathery-hairy.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Key to the Species and Taxonomic Notes

KEY TO CLEMATIS

1. Sepals blue to reddish purple......................................C. occidentalis

1. Sepals bright yellow to cream or white.

2. Sepals white; flowers imperfect; the plants dioecious, plants native.....................................C. ligusticifolia

2. Sepals bright yellow or cream, if white then the flowers perfect; plants introduced.

3. Sepals bright yellow..........................................C. tanguitica

3. Sepals cream or white.....................................C. vitalba

Habitat / Range

Mesic to dry roadsides and disturbed areas in the lowland zone; infrequent garden escape on SE Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and adjacent mainland; introduced from Eurasia and N Africa.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Additional Notes

Clematis vitalba is considered an emerging invasive species by the Greater Vancouver Invasive Plant Council (2009). An emerging invasive is defined by them as: currently found in isolated, sparse populations but are rapidly expanding their range within the region.

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is not evaluated, unknown or variable.

Status Information

Origin Status	Provincial Status	BC List (Red Blue List)	COSEWIC
Exotic	SNA	Exotic	Not Listed

BC Ministry of Environment: BC Species and Ecosystems Explorer, the authoritative source for conservation information in British Columbia.

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Flora North America treatment for Ranunculaceae
Flora North America treatment for Clematis vitalba
Genetic information (NCBI Taxonomy Database)
International Plant Names Index
Taxonomic Information from the World Flora Online
Integrated Taxonomic Information System

Additional Range and Status Information Links

Burke Museum of Natural History (Washington State records)
CalFlora
Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria records
Jepson Interchange
NatureServe Explorer
USDA

Additional Photo Sources

UBC Herbarium Scanned Collection Record
Images From CalPhoto
UT Austin's Native Plant Database
Google Image Search
Flickr Image Search

General References

Google Scholar Search
Family References
General Botanical References for BC

Recommended citation: Author, Date. Page title. In Klinkenberg, Brian. (Editor) 2020. E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia [eflora.bc.ca]. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. [Accessed: 2024-05-03 1:42:38 PM ]

Disclaimer: The information contained in the E-Flora atlas pages is derived from expert sources as cited in each section. This information is scientifically based. E-Flora also acts as a portal to other sites via deep links. As always, users should refer to the original sources for complete information. E-Flora BC is not responsible for the accuracy or completeness of the original information.