Purple Clematis.Clematis verticillaris.
Found festooning rocks and walls on uplands and mountains in early May.
This handsome vine is sparingly leafy, somewhat branching, and not perfectly round; it is woody-fibred and breaks easily, smooth to the touch, and slightly shining; the color is a light brown of a golden hue.
The leaf is 3-parted, each leaflet upon a slender foot-stem; the leaflets are oval or wedge-shaped, the margin either irregularly cut, or deeply notched, or nearly entire; the many ribs and netted veins show; the texture is somewhat thin, and the surface is sparingly covered—particularly on the underside—by soft hairs. The color is light green, frequently running into red- or purple-bronze hues, especially when young. The leaves are set on long purplish or reddish stems, and arranged in pairs, at a considerable distance apart, along the lithe curving stalk.
The flower is large; its 4 calyx-parts look like petals: they are long oval, with pointed tips, of a particularly thin, loose texture, and have a very downy surface both inside and out; the many veins show distinctly; the color is a light purple of a broken tint, sometimes nearly white on the inner side. The stamens are many and crowded into a close central tuft, the outer row of them shaped like slender oblong petals; in color, green-white with light green-yellow tips. The single blossom is set on a slender green stem which springs from between the leaves.
The flower seldom spreads wide, its seeming petals curve inward in a deep cup-shape. A noticeable feature is the presence of the brown and dry leaf-stems of the last year’s growth standing out at right angles to the fresh leafage. This is one of the rarer plants, and therefore should be left where it grows, with free curves clinging to the rocks or swinging its violet-tinged greenery and purple bells from the stronger growth of a neighboring shrub.