PlantFiles: Devil's Darning Needles, Virgin's Bower
Clematis virginiana

Clematis virginiana is a native US vine with toothed leaf margins - trifoliate. Whereas Clematis terniflora is an exotic vine with smooth margins and deemed invasive in multiple states.

Whoa, whoa, wait a minute... assuming you live in the Eastern United States and Canada this is a completely native plant. Yes it still has quite a potential to be 'weedy' but if you are looking for a native plant/pollinator garden this is a decent choice. Although it might take a little extra work to keep it in check the hummingbirds are supposed to go nuts with this stuff and it has a pretty long flowering season. There is some of this growing in a park nearby to my home and although I haven't seen any hummingbirds I have seen tons of butterflies at the flowers.

All parts of all species of clematis are toxic and most other native and non-native varieties will cause some minor skin irritation if you really get into it because of the toxin anemonin (for that matter many other common garden plants like foxglove are extremely toxic). If you aren't into the native gardening thing then this may not be for you but it certainly doesn't deserve a bad rap, at least not here were it is native.

Why does the plant data for this species list it as "very fragrant"? I thought the fact that it has no fragrance is one of the characteristics that distinguishes it from the invasive Japananes sweet autumn clematis.

I'm dealing with the wild variety of virgin's bower (clematis virginiana) and although I couldn't find the comments on your site about its invasiveness, I'll say, WATCH OUT! Normally I take the whole invasive-species thing with a large grain of salt, but now it's war!
I had 2 little swamp willows sprout at the same time by my deck. Swamp willows grow in abundance up back along the old road so I welcomed them as a native species making themselves at home. I call them The Twins. They have been identical size and all, until just this year. I noticed one of them has been doing poorly, shrinking down, losing not just leaves but leaf stems, resulting in completely bare stems. I thought they were competing--until I noticed this really pretty vine, ivy-shaped leaves, lovely fairy-like white blossoms, sprawling all over the little willow. On a walk up the road, I then start connecting the dots. An entire row of wild swamp willows had been stripped last year and are dying. What should I notice now that I'm looking? Virgin's bower, clambering all over the place.
I feel like I'm in a horror movie featuring a predatory plant. Because the v.b. is indeed consuming my swamp willow, and has reached out a long tentacle to the other Twin.
Today I spent some time ripping out as much of the v.b. as I could, but I think it's spreading underground. It's also harboring in the overgrown brambles on the rocky bank by the willows, so I'm sure it will be back.
Any advice for demolishing this total pest??? Is it a native species?
Thanks,
Julia P.
P.S. I live in Central Vermont. The invasion of the v.b. almost seems like a recent phenomenon. Is it a byproduct of a noticeably milder climate up our way?

I think this plant can be confused with Sweet Autumn Clematis. (terniflora?) They are very similar. One is more invasive than the other. I have seen one of them growing wild in NE GA. It has two-tone varieg. green leaves. Does anyone have a positive ID on this? Thanx, Brenda

We've had this plant growing in wood containers on our Manhattan terrace for more than 3 years, and every late summer it gives great pleasure to us and all our neighboring condo dwellers: beautiful clouds of white flowers all along our railings. Of course dies back every winter but comes back strong each spring. Granted, there's no danger of it escaping the containers and eating Manhattan, but it's a great note of nature in the city.

Clematis virginiana is no more toxic than any other Clematis. This plant is native to most of the US and Canada east of the Rocky Mountains.

Toxic. Reportedly irritating to skin and mucous membranes. Ingestion may cause bloody vomiting severe diarrhea and convulsions.

Put it someplace where you won't have to fight it. I have it out back fighting with the virginia creeper on an old woodpile. It is great there. I had to use extreme measures to remove it from near my garage because it was popping up where it was not wanted. Now we are living in peace :).

I had posted before in my naivete, thinking that I had the native Clematis virginiana, when actually I had the invasive Japanese Sweet Autumn Clematis, C. terniflora. I still would like to see a photo of the two plants' leaves and flowers side-by-side to get a better idea of the differences. It is my current understanding that C. virginiana has a more serrate edge to the leaf, whereas C. ternifolia has a smooth leaf margin.

I don't think any native plant, like Clematis virginiana, can be considered "invasive." You might call them "prolific spreaders," but they were here before Europeans began to disturb the soil for their own whims, so consider for a moment whom the actual "invader" may be.

Jeremy

Mulch well with composts in late winter
Aggressive when healthy, but sometimes difficult to establish. The best road to success is a cool, shaded root zone.

Prune: according to group (see general notes, above)
Bark: Exfoliating in strips, gray-brown
Root: Fleshy
Fragrance: Some spp are strongly fragrant
Fruit: Achenes, often with feathery styles
Flower:
Solitary or in panicles
Campanulate (bell-shaped) or flat.
Perfect or unisexual. Carpels numerous.
Sepals 4, in 4’s or occaisionally 5’s, petal-like, petals absent, stamens numerous, some spp. with petal-like stamens.

Foliage:
Simple or pinnately or bipinnately compound

Soil, Water:
Moist but well drained, fertile, humous rich, many prefer sweet soils.
Keep root zone cool, shaded, and mulched with composts or leaves.

Pathology:
Powdery Mildew
Fungal Spot
Rust
Wilts
Stem canker
Root rot nematodes (particularly problematic)

Entomology:
Aphids
Scale
Earwigs
Whiteflies

Plant distribution in Australia: Introduced “Noxious weed” aggressively eradicated

Sources:
The American Horticultural Society A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants, page 274-279
Hortus Third, page 281-285
The Plants of Pennsylvania, page 572-574
Dictionary of Plant Names, Allen J. Coombes, page 43-44

This plant has beautiful tiny white flowers which bloom and cascade over in the fall, thence it's name. The downside is hundreds of plants it generates all over your lawn. They are impossible to pull up, and very difficult to kill, even with Roundup.

This wonderful plant showed up in my yard as a volunteer. It was easily transplanted to a full sun area. I had no knowledge of the plant, but started it on a trellis and the results are spectacular. Profuse flowers and heavenly scent. Thank you Mother Nature for this "gift". I would have paid $ for it.