Clematis bigelovii

Torrey

Pacif. Railr. Rep. 4(5): 61. 1857 ["1856"].

Common names: Bigelow's clematis
Endemic
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 3.

Stems erect or sprawling, 0.1-0.6 m, short pubescent-pilose, sometimes sparsely so. Leaf-blade 1-2 (-3) -pinnate; primary leaflets 7-11, mostly deeply 2-several-lobed, leaflets and larger lobes mostly ovate, 0.8-3.5 × 0.5-1.5 cm (lateral lobes nearly as wide as central portion), thin, not prominently reticulate; surfaces glabrous, somewhat glaucous. Inflorescences terminal, 1-flowered. Flowers broadly urn to bell-shaped; sepals purple, lanceolate, 1.5-3 cm, margins narrowly expanded distally to ca. 1 mm wide, thin, crispate, tomentose, tips acuminate, spreading, abaxially sparsely pubescent. Achenes: bodies appressed-long-pubescent; beak 2-3 cm, glabrous or inconspicuously appressed-pubescent, sparsely so toward tip.


Phenology: Flowering spring–fall.
Habitat: Mountain slopes, moist sites in canyons
Elevation: 1700-2400 m

Discussion

Clematis bigelovii is locally common and is restricted to New Mexico and a few sites in Arizona. Although usually grouped with C. hirsutissima because of its scarcely viny habit, this species appears to represent the extreme expression of clinal variation including C. pitcheri var. dictyota and, at the other extreme, eastern populations of C. pitcheri var. pitcheri; it might well be treated as C. pitcheri var. bigelovii (Torrey) B.L. Robinson.

Clematis palmeri Rose is represented by a small number of specimens from New Mexico and one from eastern Arizona, and its distinctness as a species has been questioned. The few published descriptions scarcely suffice to indicate its distinguishing features and are sometimes at variance with each other and with specimens so identified by R.O. Erickson (1943) or others. Almost all specimens were found where C. bigelovii was reported nearby. Pending further studies, it seems likely that C. palmeri comprises somewhat aberrant specimens of C. bigelovii, C. hirsutissima var. scottii, and/or C. pitcheri var. dictyota, perhaps also some herbarium sheets of flowering and fruiting material inadvertently collected from different species, and/or hybrids involving the species named above in one or more combinations.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"appressed-long-pubescent" is not a number.No values specified.No values specified."connivent" is not a number."thick" is not a number.

... more about "Clematis bigelovii"
flattened +
James S. Pringle +
Torrey +
cuneate +, truncate +  and cordate +
Undefined subg. Viorna +
curved +  and straight +
appressed-pubescent +  and glabrous +
plumose +
2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br /> (3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br />) +
scale-like;leaflike +
globose;cylindric +
Bigelow's clematis +
bracteate +  and 3-7-flowered +
paired +  and solitary +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (15 cm150 mm <br />0.15 m <br />) +
Ariz. +  and N.Mex. +
1700-2400 m +
filiform +  and flattened +
bracteate +  and 3-7-flowered +
paired +  and solitary +
showy +  and inconspicuous +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (15 cm150 mm <br />0.15 m <br />) +
sessile +  and aggregate +
flattened-ellipsoid;terete;flattened-ellipsoid;terete;lenticular +
Mountain slopes, moist sites in canyons +
axillary +  and terminal +
0.8 cm8 mm <br />0.008 m <br /> (3.5 cm35 mm <br />0.035 m <br />) +
cordate +  and orbiculate oblong lanceolate or oblanceolate lobed or unlobed +
0.8 cm8 mm <br />0.008 m <br /> (3.5 cm35 mm <br />0.035 m <br />) +
palmate +  and pinnate +
crispate +
expanded +
thin;0mm;1mm +
1-many-flowered +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (15 cm150 mm <br />0.15 m <br />) +
distinct +
conspicuous +
spurred +, funnel--shaped +, cup-shaped +  and plane +
reduced +
Flowering spring–fall. +
5 +  and 150 +
2-several-lobed +
Pacif. Railr. Rep. +
not arillate +  and stalked +
not persistent +
distinct +
abaxially glabrous +  and silky hirsute or tomentose +
3 +  and 6 +
lanceolate +
1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br /> (3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br />) +
sprawling +  and erect +
pubescent-pilose +
10 cm100 mm <br />0.1 m <br /> (60 cm600 mm <br />0.6 m <br />) +
persistent +
glaucous;glabrous +
Clematis bigelovii +
Clematis subg. Viorna +
species +
pubescent +
acuminate +
bell--shaped +
annual +  and perennial +