White Virgin's-bower (pipestems; western white clematis; white clematis; white virgin's bower; Wireweed)
Ranunculaceae (Buttercup family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
SUBTAXA PRESENT IN BC
Species Information
General:
Perennial woody vine from a rhizome; stems clambering or climbing, generally to 6 m long (up to 20 m), nearly smooth to densely short stiff-hairy or long soft-hairy; dioecious.
Leaves:
Opposite, pinnately compound, the 5 to 7 leaflets stalked, broadly egg- to lance-shaped, 3-9 cm long,1-7 cm wide, lobed or not, margins entire to coarsely few-toothed, smooth or sparsely soft-hairy on upper surfaces, especially on veins; the stalks persisting, acting as tendrils.
Flowers:
Inflorescences axillary, compound cymes of 7 to 20 flowers on current year's stems, the flowers crowded, unisexual; flower stalks slender, 0.5-3 cm long; petals absent; sepals 4, wide-spreading, white to cream, egg-shaped to oblanceolate, 6-10 mm long, soft-hairy; stamens 25-50, pistillate flowers with sterile stamens; pistils 25-65, staminate flowers without vestigial pistils.
Fruits:
Achenes, elliptic, 3-3.5 mm long, about 1.5 mm wide, silky-hairy; beaks 3-3.5 cm long, feathery-hairy.
USDA Species Characteristics
Flower Colour:
White
Blooming Period:
Mid Summer
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: White
Present from Summer to Fall
Source: The USDA
Ecology
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)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
613 | 296 | 2005 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
17 | 0 | 70 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
150 | 10 | 350 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
4 | 0 | 6 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
D | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
64 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
BG | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
BG(31), ESSF(1), ICH(2), IDF(14), MS(3), PP(12) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Moist streambanks, gullies, ditches, riparian thickets, and fencelines in the steppe and lower montane zones; frequent in SC and SE BC; E to MB and S to NM, AZ and CA.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Clematis brevifolia Howell
Taxonomic Keys
KEY TO CLEMATIS (Source: Illustrated Flora of British Columbia)
1. Sepals blue to reddish purple......................................C. occidentalis 2. Sepals bright yellow to cream or white. {br}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 Source: Illustrated Flora of British Columbia |