Appearance

Growth form

A climbing vine with wiry stems that can reach about 5–8 ft (1.5–2.5 m) in cultivation.

Flowers

The wild form has six white sepals that look like petals; each flower grows singly on a long stalk.

Fruit

The flowers can develop small dry fruits.

Look-alikes

Patens clematisClematis patens

Patens clematis (Clematis patens) often has eight showy sepals and lacks the pair of leaflike bracts on the flower stalk. Asian virginsbower usually has six sepals and a pair of bracts. Some patens flowers have fewer sepals, so check the stalk too.

Why they get mixed up · Both are grown for broad, open flowers.

Where it lives

Typical habitats

• Gardens
• Trellises

Range

Native to southern China, not the United States. In the United States, the purple-centered 'Sieboldiana' form is grown in gardens.

Growing it

Care

Garden selections include the purple-centered 'Sieboldiana' and the many-layered white 'Plena'.

Name and classification

About the name

The horticultural Florida Group is broader than this single species; a plant sold as a Florida Group clematis is not necessarily Clematis florida. Asian virginsbower is also called passion flower clematis.

Conservation

IUCN Red List

NENot Evaluated·Not yet assessed