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Clematis drummondii (Ranunculaceae) is known by several common names, among them Old Man’s Beard, Barbas de Chivato (Goat’s Beard in Spanish), Texas Virgin’s Bower, and the romantic Love-In-The Mist.
The source of the common names involving beards is fairly obvious – the plumose achenes, conspicuous from late July through October, appear individually like the white beards of a goat or an elderly gentleman.
In large numbers, the female flowers (after going to seed) can appear as a misty, cloud-like mist, perhaps the source of the Love-In-The Mist appellation.
A “bower,” on the other hand, can have several meanings. One is that of a secluded, shady place under trees, often in a garden, another is of a twining arch or arbor. Then there is the reference to a lady’s private dressing room, or, from medieval times, a lady’s private apartment in a castle tower.
The species name is not open to speculation. It was named after Thomas Drummond (1793-1835), a botanist from Scotland who did extensive collecting in Texas from 1833-1835. (Drummond family genealogy places his birth in 1793, although most botany sources list his birth year as 1790). Drummond reportedly intended to bring his family back to Texas. He had contracted cholera while in Texas, but survived, and began his trip back to Scotland via Havana, Cuba. While collecting plants in Cuba, he died, and the cause of death was unable to be determined by the time his body was found.
Of thirteen Clematis species known to be native to Texas, C. drummondii, C. pitcheri (Purple Leatherflower) and C. texensis (Scarlet Leatherflower) are the only three that grow in the Texas Hill Country. Clematis drummondii actually grows throughout all of Texas except for Eastern Texas, and extends as far South as Northern Mexico and as far West as New Mexico and Arizona.
Habitats include a variety of geologies, including dry, sandy, clay and calcareous soils. The vines sprawl or trail across the ground, over rocks, and climb on shrubs, trees and fences. A perennial, it is woody only at the base, with the rest of the 9 to 10 foot vine twining and herbaceous.
The leaves are opposite, with five to seven leaflets that are only about an inch long at most. Leaves may vary: smooth or dentate, often three-lobed. It has been described as pedunculate or petiolate, with thin stalks rising from the axils of the leaves with 1 to 3 flowers at the ends.
The flowers are inconspicuous when they first appear, only about an inch in diameter. Clematis species have no petals. The drummondii have four petal-like sepals which form a cross or plus sign at the base, varied in color from green and yellow to a creamy white.
This species is dioecious, with male and female flowers appearing on separate vines, and subtle differences in the inflorescences become obvious as the female flowers go to seed.
The male flowers have a hemispheric or mushroom cap shape throughout the bloom period.
Female flowers have a pronounced central column of vertical stigma, with the stamens spread out horizontally. After pollination, the central column of stigma become elongated and eventually become the plumose achenes from which the common names are derived.
Clematis drummondii is a host plant for the Fatal Metalmark butterfly (Calephelis nemesis)
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**ARCHIVED POST AUTHOR: rkamper
