Clematis montana
Buch.-Ham. ex DC., Syst. Nat. 1: 164. 1817 & Prodr. 1: 9.
1824; Hook. f. & Thomson in Fl. Brit. India 1: 2. 1872.
Hindi: Chanti-ka-bel; Jain.: lanmai-thobawa; Jaun.: Kaunia-bali.
Robust woody climbers; branches tough, terete, glabrous. Leaves fascicled at the
nodes on short branches, ternately 3-foliolate;.petioles 3.5 -
7.5 cm long; leaflets 3 or
1 - 4, variable; ovate, ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate, rounded at base, coarsely and
distantly serrate or sometimes incised along margins, acute at apex, 1.5 -
7 x 1 -
3.5 cm,
3 -
5-nerved from base; tertiary nerves few, distant, indistinct, appressed hairy, especially
beneath, more particularly on nerves or glabrescent; petiolules 3 -
8 mm long. Flowers
2 -
3 in axillary fascicles, sometimes reduced to one, on long pedicels, large, 4 -
8 cm
across, showy, white, cream-yellow or purplish outside, scented; peduncles terete, 7 - 10
cm long, puberulous; pedicels 3 - 8 cm long, glabrous. Sepals 4, petaloid, widely
spreading, valvate in bud, obovate or oblong-elliptic, obtuse, acute or narrowly acuminate, 1.5 -
2 x 0.7 -
1.25 cm, nerved, densely hairy or glabrous outside and softly tomentose
along the border or hairy only near the tip, hairy or glabrous inside. Stamens many;
filaments linear, glabrous; anthers yellow, introrse; connectives hardly projecting beyond anthers. Achenes in a cluster, ovate, obovate, compressed, acute at both ends, ca
5 x 4 mm, glabrous or sparsely hairy, with up to 4 cm long feathery cream-coloured tails.
