2. Clematis crispa L. (swamp leather flower, blue jasmine)
Pl. 513 a; Map
2350
Plants with
perfect flowers, the stems woody (at least toward the base), twining, 1–3 m
long. Well-developed leaves pinnately 5–7-foliate or twice pinnately compound,
herbaceous in texture, the minor veins not raised, the leaflets usually undivided,
sometimes 2- or 3-lobed, the margins entire, the upper surface green, the
undersurface glabrous, paler but not glaucous. Flowers solitary. Perianth
urn-shaped, the sepals 32–41 mm long, erect to somewhat incurved, reflexed
toward the tip, purplish blue, thickened and leathery, with membranous crisped
margins (2–)3–5 mm wide, at least toward the tip, the outer surface hairy (at
least near the margins), the inner surface glabrous. Fruits with the beak
2.0–3.5 cm long, with short, often appressed hairs. 2n=16. April–August.
Uncommon in the
Mississippi Lowlands Division and the adjacent portion of the Ozarks
(southeastern U.S. west to Missouri and Texas). Bottomland forests, mesic
upland forests, swamps, and banks of spring branches; also fallow fields,
sometimes in sandy soil.