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Clematis (From klema a Vine branch most)
(from klema, a Vine branch; most of the species climb like the Vine). Virgin's Bower. ORD. Ranunculaceae. A genus of climbing deciduous shrubs or herbaceous perennials. Calyx of from four to eight coloured sepals; petals none. Carpels numerous, aggregate, terminated by a long, mostly feathery, tail. Leaves opposite, variously cut. For climbing up stumps of old trees, training to trellises on walls, or planting to droop over amongst rockwork, no plants are more suitable, or will make a more gorgeous display, than many of the large flowered Clematises. Their habit and character alone are suggestive of the many ornamental purposes to which they may be put, and there are few places which may not be adorned by them in some way or other. Not only are they well adapted for running up all kinds of supports, but many of the grand hybrid varieties are equally suitable for trailing over the surface of the ground, and covering beds, either alone or associated with a few distinct foliage plants, such as Negundo fraxinifolium variegatum, with which they look well, and produce a charming effect.
General Cultivation. To get the Clematis to flower well and continuously in dry weather, it must have a good depth of rich loamy soil, and a fair share of manure, both above and below the surface. Liquid manure is also a great help to free flowering, and therefore good soakings of it should be given from time to time, according to the state of the weather. As Clematises are always kept in pots for sale, the month of June is a favourable one to obtain them and plant out; but before doing this, suitable preparations should be made, by deeply trenching the ground, which, if at all stiff, will be greatly improved by having plenty of leaf soil, refuse peat, or other rich vegetable matter, worked in, together with some road scrapings or trimmings, which will keep the whole open and allow the roots to ramify freely. When required for borders, the best way of growing Clematis is to dig large holes, about 3ft. across and 2ft. deep, and either fill in with fresh turfy loam and dung, or add a good proportion of the same to the soil thrown out, before it is put back. Place one or more plants in the centre of each hole, and also three tall stakes, triangularly, for the plants to climb up, which they will do with very little assistance after they have had a tie or two and made a fair start. These stakes should be driven in firmly, about 2ft. apart, and then brought together at the tops, and secured by running a piece of wire round them, so that the three, when fixed, form a graduated cone, the shape and outline of which is always the most pleasing of any kind of trellis or support that can be used. The lanuginosa types are best adapted for planting to train on verandahs or up trellises on dwellings, where, if well fed, and otherwise left pretty much to themselves, they soon cover a large space and produce an immense number of flowers. Different growers of Clematises vary much in their manner of treating them. Some, instead of thinning or simply shortening back the shoots during the winter, adopt the more severe proceeding of cutting away the whole of the tops, so as to force the plants to break again from the crowns. This method answers for Jackmanni, and the strong-growing series of which it is the type. It is, however, not to be recommended in the case of those of the lanuginosa type, which generally die back quite far enough, and only require that such dead portions should be cut away, as to do anything further only weakens them, by restricting their growth. Neither is this treatment desirable with any of the others, except such as are confined to beds and have only limited spaces to fill. Heading back those used for covering old trunks of trees, gnarled poles, or other similar supports, lays the latter bare for a long time in spring and early summer, when they would be covered with verdure. It also retards the period of flowering.
Propagation is mainly effected by grafting any of the varieties on portions of Clematis roots, early in the year. Good healthy pieces of root, obtained from old plants outside, or those of C. Flammula, answer the purpose well. These should be split open, and the small scions inserted and tied with matting; they should then be potted in thimble pots, and placed in a propagating case, with a warm, moist temperature, where they will readily unite. They may afterwards be removed to cooler quarters, and be ultimately plunged outside. All the different varieties of Clematis may also be readily increased, either by cuttings, made of the young shoots, which may be cut up to every eye, and placed in pots of sandy soil, in gentle heat, in the propagating case; or by layers outside, put in at any time. Layers will, in the course of a year, if kept watered, be found to emit roots at the joints covered, after which they may be severed and planted, just before growth commences, in the spring. To aid them in rooting, it is a good plan to slightly scrape the bark before laying the branches in.
Clematises may be easily increased, if required, by seed. The seed vessels should be gathered towards the autumn, and stored in some dry, cool place till the following spring, when the seed they contain may be sown in light sandy soil, and stood in gentle heat till they germinate. If then nursed on for a time under glass, and afterwards planted in deep rich loam, the plants will soon flower. The varieties being now so numerous, and brought to such perfection by systematic crossing, it is hardly to be expected that many improved forms are to be obtained by ordinary cultivators, by merely raising them from seed.
For greenhouse or conservatory decoration, the tenderer sorts are extremely useful. A house having a temperature of 40deg. to 50deg. is the best; and, whether grown in pots or trained on the roof or back wall, the plants prove equally ornamental. With the general exception of a few degrees of higher temperature, the culture of the greenhouse species does not materially differ from that of the hardy sorts.
C. aethusifolia (AEthusa-leaved). fl. white, between cylindric and campanulate, 1/2in. to 3/4in. long. l. small, two to three pinnatisect, with narrow linear lobes. h. 4ft. to 6ft. Hardy.
C. ae. latisecta (broadly-cut) only differs from type in the larger leaf segments, which are as broad as long, and irregularly toothed. Amur-land and North China. A very graceful hardy climber. (B. M. 6542.) C. aristata (awned). fl. greenish-yellow, dioecious, panicled; sepals four. May to August. l. ternate; leaflets ovate, somewhat cordate, acute, coarsely toothed. Australia, 1812. Greenhouse. (B. R. 238.) C. aromatica (aromatic).* fl. deep violet-blue, sweetly-scented, terminal, solitary; sepals oblong-lanceolate, three-nerved, reflexed after flowers have thoroughly expanded. Summer. l., leaflets five, shortly stalked or almost sessile, entire, broadly ovate, or ovate-oblong, dark green above, paler beneath. h. 4ft. to 6ft. Native country unknown. A sub-shrubby perennial. SYN. C. coerulea odorata.
C. azurea grandiflora (large-flowered blue). A synonym of C. coerulea. C. balearica (Balearic). fl. pale, pubescent on the outside, and marked on the inside with oblong red spots, about 2in. across; peduncles one-flowered, with an involucre under the flower. February, March. l. ternate; leaflets stalked, three-lobed, deeply toothed. Minorca, 1783. Greenhouse; hardy in South of England. SYN. C. calycina. (B. M. 959.) C. caerulea (sky-blue).* fl. violet-coloured, with deep purple stamens, large; sepals six to eight, oblong-lanceolate, acute, membranaceous. June and July. l. spreading, hairy, ternate; leaflets ovate-acute, entire. Japan, 1836. Hardy. SYN. C. azurea grandiflora. B. R. 1955.) There are several forms of this species, amongst which are: Amalia, pale violet; monstrosa, remarkable for its semi-double greenish flowers; patens, white; and Sophia, having very large and unusually broad sepals, of a deep violet, with a longitudinal greenish band through the centre.
C. c. odorata (sweet-scented). A synonym of C. aromatica. C. calycina (calycine). A synonym of C. balearica.
C. campaniflora (bell-flowered). fl. of a purplish-white colour, large, half open; sepals half spreading, dilated at the apex, wavy; peduncles one-flowered, somewhat longer than the leaves. June. l. biternately decompound; leaflets entire or three-lobed, about twenty-four in number. Portugal, 1810. Hardy. (L. B. C. 987.) C. caripensis (Caripan).* fl. white, sweet-scented, panicled, dioecious; pedicels and bracts pubescent. August. l. pinnate; leaflets ovate, acuminated, five-nerved, quite entire, smooth. Cumana, near Caripa, 1820. Stove. C. chlorantha (green-flowered). A synonym of C. grandiflora. C. cirrhosa (tendrilled).* fl. pale whitish or cream-coloured, downy on the outside, but smooth inside; peduncles one-flowered, with an involucre. March. l. ovate, somewhat cordate, toothed, in fascicles. South Europe, 1596. Hardy evergreen. (B. M. 1070.) C. crispa (curled).* fl. pale lilac or purple, nodding; sepals firm, constricted above the middle; margins wavy, reflexed and spreading at the apex; peduncles one-flowered, shorter than the leaves. July to September. l. entire, three-lobed or ternate, very acute. North America, 1726. Hardy evergreen. SYNS. C. cylindrica and C. Simsii. (B. M. 1892.) C. cylindrica (cylindrical). A synonym of C. crispa. C. erecta (erect). A synonym of C. recta.
C. Flammula (flame).* fl. pure white, fragrant; peduncles simple or branched. July to October. l. pinnate, smooth, with orbicular, oval, oblong or linear, entire or three-lobed, acutish leaflets. South Europe, 1596. A very vigorous climber, and one of the oldest in cultivation. There are several forms, which vary slightly from the type.
C. florida (florid).* fl. pale white, large, spreading; sepals six or eight, oval-lanceolate, much pointed; peduncles one-flowered, longer than the leaves. April to September. l. ternately decompound; leaflets ovate, acute, quite entire. Japan, 1776. Hardy. (B. M. 834.) The charming double-flowered from is much commoner in our gardens than the normal type.
C. Fortunei (Fortune's).* fl. white, fragrant, about 1in. across, and consisting of about a hundred oblong-lanceolate stalked floral leaves. l. coriaceous, usually trifoliolate; leaflets cordate, rounded at the apex. Japan, 1863. A splendid hardy species, of which there are two or three varieties. (G. C. 1863, 676.) C. grandiflora (large-flowered).* fl. greenish-yellow, campanulate, very large; peduncles one to three-flowered, shorter than the leaves. February to May. l. pinnate, smooth; leaflets five, ovate, cordate, acuminated, coarsely serrated. Sierra Leone, 1823. Stove or warm greenhouse. SYN. C. chlorantha. (B. R. 1234.) C. graveolens (strong-smelling).* fl. pale yellow, medium-sized, solitary. Summer. l. pinnately three to five foliolate; leaflets narrow, three-lobed. Chinese Tartary, 1844. A small, hardy, climbing shrub. (B. M. 4495.) C. grewiaeflora (Grewia-flowered). fl. of a tawny-yellow colour. about 1 1/4in. long, campanulate. l. ovate, covered with rusty down, Himalayas, 1868. A distinct-looking cool greenhouse species. (B. M. 6369.) C. indivisa (simple).* fl. white, cream, panicled. April. l. ternate; leaflets ovate, quite entire, mucronate, coriaceous, smooth. New Zealand, 1847. Half-hardy. C. i. lobata is a form of this, with lobed leaflets, but is otherwise like the type. (B. M. 4398.) C. integrifolia (entire-leaved). fl. nodding; sepals blue, coriaceous, younger ones with villous edges, adult ones with wavy edges; peduncles terminal, one-flowered. June to August. l. entire, ovate-lanceolate, smooth; the two upper ones are concave and connivent before flowering, hence they inclose the flower as if it were in a bladder. h. 2ft. Eastern Europe, 1596. (B. M. 65.) There are two or more varieties of this hardy species. C. lanuginosa (woolly).* fl. solitary, very large, 6in. to 7in. across, formed of six or eight spreading sepals. Early summer. l. usually simple, broadly cordate, acute, glabrous above and hairy beneath. China, 1851. Hardy. (F. d. S. 8, 811.) The variety pallida has flowers from 9in. to 10in. across. C. montana (mountain).* fl. white, large, resembling in size and form those of Anemone sylvestris; peduncles usually one-flowered. Early summer. l. ternate or trifid, smooth; leaflets oblong, acuminated, rather toothed at the base, lateral ones almost sessile. h. 20ft. Nepaul, 1831. Hardy in most places. (G. C. 1872, p. 1424.) C. ochroleuca (yellowish-white). fl. erect, or a little inclined, cream-coloured, and yellow on the outside; peduncles one-flowered. July. l. entire, ovate; younger ones silky. Stem erect. h. 1ft. to 2ft. East United States, 1767. Hardy perennial. (L. B. C. 661.) C. orientalis (Eastern). fl. greenish-yellow, with a tinge of russet on the upper part and outside, sweet-scented, panicled. August. l. pinnate; leaflets smooth, wedge-shaped, with three toothed pointed lobes. h. 8ft. Orient, 1731. Half-hardy.
C. paniculata (panicled).* fl. white, sweet-scented, resembling those of C. Flammula; pedicels panicled, many-flowered. July, August. l. pinnate; leaflets ovate-cordate, acute, entire. Japan, 1796. Hardy.
C. Pitcheri (Pitcher's). fl. dull purplish, bell-shaped; sepals with narrow and slightly margined, recurved points; tails of the fruit filiform and barely pubescent. July to August. l., leaflets three to nine, ovate or cordate, entire or three-lobed; uppermost leaves often simple. United States. A hardy climber.
C. recta (erect).* fl. white, sweet-scented; sepals oval; corymbs densely flowered. June to August. l. pinnate; leaflets stalked, ovate, acuminated, quite entire. Stem erect. h. 2ft. to 3ft. South and East Europe, 1597. Herbaceous perennial. SYN. C. erecta.
C. Simsii (Sims's). A synonym of C. crispa.
C. smilacifolia (Smilax-leaved.) fl., sepals four, linear-oblong, clothed with rusty tomentum on the outside, but smooth and purple on the inside; panicles axillary, few-flowered, rather shorter than the leaves. l. ovate-cordate, smooth, entire. Nepaul, 1823. Greenhouse. (B. M. 4259.) C. tubulosa (tubular).* fl. blue, with a long slender tube, of a deeper colour than the spreading limb, in shape very much resembling the flower of a common Hyacinth. Autumn. l. broad, with three broadly oval-rounded leaflets. Stem erect, almost woody. h. 2ft. to 3ft. China, 1845. Hardy. (B. M. 4269.) C.