Addison's leather flower
Clematis addisonii Vail
Addison’s leather flower shows that a clematis need not be a towering climber. Its stems are usually ascending or erect, sometimes only a little vine-like, and its solitary flowers form rounded, urn-like shapes. FNA: Clematis addisonii
Botanical name
IPNI crosswalks FNA’s Britton authorship to Vail for this species. FNA: Clematis addisoniiIPNI: Clematis addisonii
Recognizing the plant
Purple to reddish-purple sepals become whitish toward their tips, their thick margins giving substance to the little floral urn. The leaves have smooth, pale-waxy undersides. After flowering, the small dry fruits carry elongated, feathery beaks, replacing the solid-looking flower with a much lighter texture. Vigorous plants can have divided upper leaves, so foliage is not absolutely uniform. FNA: Clematis addisonii
Bloom window
Western Virginia
In its western Virginia range, the flora records flowering from spring into early summer, followed by the distinctive feathery fruiting structures. FNA: Clematis addisonii
Native range
Flora of North America restricts the species to four counties in western Virginia: Botetourt, Montgomery, Roanoke and Rockbridge. It inhabits dry calcareous woods, glades and rock outcrops at two hundred to six hundred metres elevation. Reports from other southeastern states in that treatment were traced to misidentified specimens. FNA: Clematis addisonii
Botanical sources
Reviewed 2026-10-11. Seasonal development varies with location and growing conditions.