Western White Clematis
Clematis ligusticifolia
Family: Ranunculacea
A deciduous , clamoring vine that blooms with white flowers (plants are dioecious—meaning that there are female and male plants). After flowering, female plants will present whispy, silver-tailed fruits which lend it another common name: old man’s beard.
Afternoon shade is recommended. Regular water. Hardy to at least -10°F.
Flowers attract a multitude of butterflies and other nectar-feeding pollinators. Plants are larval hosts for the Fatal Metalmark (Calephelis nemesis).
It was called "pepper vine" by early travelers and pioneers of the American Old West. They used it as a pepper substitute to spice up food since real black pepper (Piper nigrum) was a costly and rarely obtainable spice. Like the rest of the genus Clematis, it contains essential oils and compounds which are extremely irritating to the skin and mucous membranes. Unlike Black Pepper or Capsicum, however, the compounds in clematis cause internal bleeding of the digestive tract if ingested internally in large amounts.
Photo by Paul Rothrock, SEINET
Clematis ligusticifolia on iNaturalist
There are 389 species of Clematis worldwide. In Arizona there are 6 species. Clematis is from the Greek clema, plant shoot, an ancient name for a vine; ligusticifolia means the leaves resemble those of Ligustrum, the genus of privet.
Found along streams, from 3,000-8,500’ in British Columbia, Canada; as far west in the US as North Dakota, south to California, Arizona and New Mexico, and into Baja California, Chihuahua, and Sonora.
The achenes after blooming, photo by John Brew, iNaturalist
Plants naturally vining over vegetation in the wild, photo by carefreehoneybee on iNaturalist