purple virgin's-bower (blue clematis; Columbia bower; Columbia virgin's bower; western blue virginsbower)
Ranunculaceae (Buttercup family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
SUBTAXA PRESENT IN BC
Species Information
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.
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) |
1093 | 35 | 2020 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
35 | 0 | 220 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
336 | 0 | 360 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
3 | 1 | 6 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
C | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
601 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
MS | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
BG(4), BWBS(17), CWH(2), ESSF(46), ICH(94), IDF(123), MS(126), PP(24), SBPS(4), SBS(118) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
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.Status Information
Taxonomic Keys
KEY TO CLEMATIS
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 |