About Clematis vitalba L.
Scientific Name and Vegetative Morphology
Clematis vitalba L. is a climbing shrub with branched, grooved stems and deciduous leaves.
Flower Characteristics
It bears scented greenish-white flowers with fluffy underlying sepals.
Fruit Morphology and Common Name Origin
Each inflorescence produces many fruits, each with a long silky appendage; when grouped together these appendages create the characteristic appearance that gives this species its common name old man's beard.
Stem Texture Feature
The grooves along its stems are easily felt when the plant is handled.
Herbivory and Host Plant Role
The larvae of a wide range of moth species feed on this species, and many of these moth species rely on Clematis vitalba as their sole foodplant, including the small emerald, small waved umber and Haworth's pug.
Reproductive Traits
This species has the following reproductive characteristics: its inflorescence is a biparous cyme, its flowers are hermaphrodite, and pollination occurs via insects (entomophilous).
Fruit Type and Seed Dispersal
It produces achene type fruits that contain seeds, which are dispersed by wind.
General Habitat and Distribution Range
Clematis vitalba grows in mid-European shrubberies, mountainsides, and moderately eutrophic regions, within the Holarctic distribution.
Soil and Climate Preferences
It grows well in limey, base-rich alkaline soils, and prefers a moist climate with warm summers.
Native Range
It is native to Eurasia and North Africa.
Overview of Uses
Clematis vitalba has several documented historical and regional uses.
Stone Age Use
During the Stone Age, it was used to make rope in Switzerland.
Slovenian Traditional Uses
In Slovenia, its stems were used to bind crops and weave baskets for onions; they were especially useful for binding grain sheaves, because mice do not gnaw on the stems.
Italian Culinary Use
In Italy, harvested sprouts of the plant are used to make omelettes; these sprouts are called "vitalbini" in Tuscany and "visoni" in Veneto.
