Virginia Tech Dendrology

swamp leather flower Ranunculaceae Clematis crispa L. symbol: CLCR
Leaf: Opposite, deciduous to nearly evergreen, simple, bifoliate, trifoliate, or pinnate; individual leaflets oval to nearly lanceolate with entire margins, usually lacking lobes but sometimes lobed near the tip; mostly glabrous.
Flower: Genus is usually dioecious; showy, 1 to 2 inches, nodding, white to lavender bell-shaped flowers with 4 pointed and recurved sepals; appearing spring to summer, and sometimes flowering twice.
Fruit: Small dry brown seeds with a long plume, borne in thin pompom-like heads.
Twig: Initially green, and changing to red-brown, ridged, wiry, mostly glabrous, climbs by twining.
Bark: Initially smooth and red-brown, later developing long splits.
Form: A creeping or low-climbing vine to 10 feet.
Looks like: sweetautumn clematis - virgin's bower

Additional Range Information: Clematis crispa is native to North America. Range may be expanded by planting. Download the full-size PDF map.
External Links: USDA Plants Database
All material 2021 Virginia Tech Dept. of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation; Photos and text by: John Seiler, Edward Jensen, Alex Niemiera, and John Peterson; Silvics reprinted from Ag Handbook 654; range map source information