Seasonal Wild Flowers

Latin name

Clematis armandii

Other names

Evergreen Clematis

Family

Ranunculaceae

Flowering season

March (late February) to May

English distribution

It is grown in gardens throughout the country but the

escape is only found in parts of Derbyshire, Cambridge,

and west of London as far as Wiltshire and Oxfordshire.

For a map see the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland –

Armand Clematis

Habitat

It is a neophyte introduced into Europe from China or

Myanmar (Burma) in the mid 1880s and first grown in

the UK around 1900.

It is a popular plant in UK gardens because its perennial

leaves cover anattractive structures all year round and 

is the first Clematis to flower after the winter.

In the wild it scrambles up trees and shrubs and may 

result from garden throwouts

Description

Armand clematis is a perennial climbing plant growing

up to 8m with a spread of several metres.

The flowers are in axiliary cymes above 2 small leaf-like

bracts. The flowers have 5 creamy-white petaloid sepals

and are up to 6cm across. They smell slightly of almonds.

There are large numbers of long white stamens with

beige  anthers. 

There are numerous green carpels with linear styles.

The fruit is an achene made feathery and silver by the

elongated styles.  

The trifoliate leaves are bronze at first becoming 

 dark glossy green and leathery. They are up to

15cm.

The stems are wiry and twining and red to grey.