A deciduous climber, growing 10 ft high, with slender, glabrous, ribbed stems. Leaves doubly ternate, the leaflets ovate to lanceolate, 11⁄2 to 3 in. long, often oblique at the base, pointed, sharply toothed; thin in texture, quite glabrous, bright green; stalks 1⁄2 to 1 in. long. Flowers produced singly, in pairs, or in threes from the leaf-axils in August and September. Sepals four, lanceolate or narrowly oblong, pointed, about 1 in. long, 1⁄4 in. wide, soft yellow, downy inside and at the margins; stamens purple; seed-vessels with feathery styles 2 in. long.
Native of Korea; introduced about 1918. It is closely allied to C. tangutica but that species differs in its pinnate or doubly pinnate leaves. The flowers of C. serratifolia are smaller but borne more plentifully. An attractive addition to the clematises with yellow flowers.