Clematis roylei Rehder in J. Arn. Arb. 22: 575. 1941. C. nutans Royle, Illus. Bot. Himal. 51. 1834; Hook. f. & Thomson in Fl. Brit. India 1: 5. 1872 (non Crantz 1763).

Climbing shrubs; branches villous or sparsely so. Leaves pinnately 3 - 5-foliolatc, 2-pinnate or decompound, 10 - 20 cm long; leaflets ovate-lanceolate or ovate-elliptic. rounded or oblique at base, entire or crenate or serrate-dentate along margins, acute to acuminate and simple or cleft at apex, 2 - 14 x 1 - 9 cm, hairy on both surfaces; petioles twining. Inflorescences axillary, 3 to many-flowered, pubescent panicles; pedicels up to 3 cm long. Flowers cream-white or pale yellow, 4 - 8 cm in diam. Sepals 4 - 5, erect or spreading. broadly oblong, recurved or revolute at tips, villous outside with tomentose margins, glabrous inside, Filaments linear, 1.5 - 2 cm long, hairy towards base only; anthers mucronate; connectives not much produced. Achenes ovoid-ellipsoid, compressed, silky hairy with 2 - 2.5 cm long feathery tails.

India and Nepal.

KEY TO THE VARIETIES

1a. Leaves normally 5-foliolate, very rarely 3-foliolate; sepals spreading

24.1. patens

b. Leaves usually 3-foliolate, rarely 5-foliolate; sepals erect or suberect

24.2. roylei

List of Lower Taxa