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Clematis grata Wall.

Modern name

Clematis grata Wall.

The typical C. grata is a Himalayan species and may not be in cultivation. But in 1904 Wilson introduced to Veitch’s Coombe Wood nursery a clematis which later proved to be a Chinese variety of the Himalayan plant. This is:

var. grandidentata Rehd. & Wils. – A vigorous deciduous climber growing 30 ft high, with downy, ribbed stems. Leaves 6 in. or more long, composed of three or five leaflets; common stalk downy. Leaflets ovate, pointed, rounded or tapered at the base, the margins coarsely and unevenly set with triangular teeth; 114 to 3 in. long, the terminal one often deeply three-lobed and long-stalked, the basal pair with stalks 13 in. long; both surfaces, but especially the lower one, furnished with grey down. Panicles small, axillary and terminal, bearing the flowers in threes on the main-stalk or in threes on each of its branches. Sepals four or five, white, narrowly oblong, felted at the back. Flower 1 in. wide, opening in May and June. Seed-vessel glabrous, with a silky tail.

Native of W. Hupeh and Szechwan. This pleasing climber is related to C. vitalba, but differs from it in the glabrous or nearly glabrous inner face of the sepals but more downy leaflets. It grows vigorously and is perfectly hardy.


Genus

Clematis

Other species in the genus