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Clematis species are widespread. Carl Linnaeus included them in his original taxonomic categorization back in the eighteenth century. Nine of the several hundred species of this genus are native to Texas. The three discussed in this article are fairly common in Central Texas, including an endemic Scarlet leatherflower (Clematis texensis), native to a mere seven counties along the southeastern border of the Edwards Plateau and growing nowhere else in the world.
All photos by Robert Kamper
For that reason Linnaeus probably had never seen a Scarlet leatherflower. Because they are unique and attractive they have been cultivated and sold commercially, spreading beyond their original range. If you look at the USDA Plant Profile database for this plant, you might notice that Williamson County (where this writer resides) is not one of the seven counties listed on their county map within Texas (Kerr, Bandera, Kendall, Comal, Blanco, Llano and Travis) where this plant grows in its native habitats. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Travis County does have some very nice specimens on display; I found a photo I took there in September 2009 to provide as an illustration.
In contrast, C. pitcheri has a broader native range within Texas and is native in other states as well. Why do some Clematis species have a broader distribution range than others? Since the species covered in this article are all native to Central Texas, and seem to have similar habits and habitats, you’ll not find the answer here. Nor did I find it in a search on the Internet. I did find out that C. texensis can be hybridized easily enough and can even be found in Seattle, Washington (as an exotic). Steven Schwartzman, a member of our Austin Chapter who has an inspiring photography blog Portraits of Wildflowers, has reported that he sees more C. texensis than C. pitcheri, but a search on his blog for “Clematis” will reveal that he sees a lot more of C. drummondii, or at least seems to find them more interesting as subjects.
And if that is the case, who could blame him? While C. texensis can be found in the wild in Travis and several other counties, and C. pitcheri in more than a few, neither of them are often found in public landscaping. In their natural habitats they can be easily overlooked during their blooming periods from middle or late spring through the beginning of Autumn. My experience with the leather flowers, primarily purple, has been within parks and preserves, usually in dappled shade, under trees and climbing on other shrubs. Typically I find them near riparian habitats, favoring moist but well drained soils. Both species are notable for their four fused sepals, which separate at their distal end and allow access to the flower itself; the flower expresses no petals. When they go to seed they can be identified by their achenes, which form a whorled structure in place of the flower.
In contrast, Old man’s beard has four sepals which are not fused but form an “X” or “+” below the flower head. This assemblage of sepals resembles petals much like the Scarlet and Purple leatherflowers. Although C. drummondii is also absent from most public landscaping projects, a short trip outside of the city streets and into more suburban and rural locations, especially during the latter part of the summer into early fall will reveal the wispy white strands of Old man’s beard along fence rows and wooded areas.
Since C. drummondii doesn’t mind full sun, likes dry soil, and does well in poor soils, it should be quite prolific in Williamson County (outside of the manicured lawns and crepe myrtled landscapes of suburban Anywhere, USA). It can be found in Berry Springs Park just north of Georgetown, along the dam between Brushy Creek Lake Park and Champion Park, in Southwest Regional Park just north of FM 1431, and in Beck’s Preserve just north of 620 of Great Oaks Drive, to name just a few locations within a short drive of my home. Hopefully I will be planting a few Clematis seeds this fall and begin to preserve this vine before development reduces its habitat to only the parks and preserves.
I recall a story in my local newspaper Community Impact that showed a picture of a plot of land that was going to be developed some day in the future from farmland to businesses and parking lots. The photo of the fence along A.W. Grimes Road showed a healthy growth of C. drummondii along the fence in the foreground. It is probably still there, but may not be for long, if “conventional” development trends continue. McNeil Road and Howard Lane in North Austin seem to be a real hotbeds of Old man’s beard, except where buildings have sprouted up with razed areas around them.
All hope is not lost. Along the roadside of Interstate 35, as exit 261 makes its entrance into Georgetown, one can see within a few feet of the ramp a shrub covered with Old man’s beard. Someone somewhere, whether the DOT, the City, or some conscientious construction crew, has recognized this fine specimen of a native plant and acted to preserve it from the bulldozing that has been going on around it. Let’s end this story with some pictures of C. drummondii, which was
named for Thomas Drummond, (ca. 1790-1835), naturalist, born in Scotland, around 1790. In 1830 he made a trip to America to collect specimens from the western and southern United States. In March, 1833, he arrived at Velasco, Texas to begin his collecting work in that area. He spent twenty-one months working the area between Galveston Island and the Edwards Plateau, especially along the Brazos, Colorado, and Guadalupe rivers. His collections were the first made in Texas that were extensively distributed among the museums and scientific institutions of the world. He collected 750 species of plants and 150 specimens of birds. Drummond had hoped to make a complete botanical survey of Texas, but he died in Havana, Cuba, in 1835, while making a collecting tour of that island.
(source: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=CLDR, accessed 8:22 p.m., CDT, August 23, 2014.)
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