Clematis of the Month for November 2009
Botanical description:
Habit: A hardy upright semi-climber with stems up to 1.5 m long. Internodes purple green, sparsely hairy but more densely so at the nodes, slightly 6 ribbed.
Leaf: compound ; ternate and pinnate, leaflets ; 3 5, simple, normal green with purple margin, lanceolate, apex acute to acuminate, base of terminal leaflet obtuse, of the side leaflets oblique, margin entire or sometimes lobed, on both sides glabrous with a few short hairs on main veins, margin sparsely hairy, side leaflets sessile, rachis purple, few hairs, petiole up to 2 cm long, purple, few hairs. To your right is a scan of a leaf of Clematis ‘Fascination’ showing its distinct feature of a Diversifolia Group cultivar, namely sessile leaflets.
Inflorescence: solitary, terminal and axillary on young shoots, peduncle up to 7 cm long, slightly ribbed, sparsely hairy, green violet, pedicel shorter than the peduncle, hairy to villous towards the flower, violet with white pubescence.
Bracts: present at axillary flowers, leaflike but simple and smaller, ovate, more or less sessile.
Flower: bisexual, campanulate, nodding, 3-4 cm across, bit fragrant, receptacle greenish, bud nodding, ovate, acuminate, very dark glossy violet.
Tepals: 4, inside dark violet (83A), outside darker glossy violet (79A) with margin paler because of white pubescence, 3.5 cm long, up to 1.4 cm wide, lanceolate, apex acuminate, rather thick, slightly ribbed, inside glabrous, outside few hairs with white pubescent margin.
Stamens: outer filaments white with a bit blue tint, the inner white, 1 cm long, base glabrous otherwise hairy with very long hairs, anthers 0.3 cm long, yellow, connective yellow, with long hairs.
Pistil: style white plumose, stigma short hairy, white.
Fruit: head up to 3.5 cm across, achene orbicular, style up to 3.5 cm long, silvery-grey plumose, stigma straight.
Flowering time: summer.
General description:
A hardy perennial-like plant with stems up to 1.5 m long but much shorter when pot grown. Leaves compound, ternate or pinnate, normal green coloured with purple margin. Flower 3.5 cm across, very nicely shaped campanulate, dark glossy violet including the flower buds. The flowers attract a lot of bees and are slightly fragrant.
Flowers from June into August in the Northern hemisphere when pruned in winter at 10 cm above soil level, followed by nice silvery seed heads. Zone 5.
Origin:
Raised by Wim Snoeijer from deliberate crossbreeding in 1992. The seedplant used was Clematis ‘Olgae’ (Integrifolia Group) pollinated with Clematis fusca. These plants grew in the clematis collection of Jan Fopma, Boskoop, The Netherlands. Several plants could be raised as the seeds germinated in spring 1993 but only one plant was selected in 1996. In that same year Jan Fopma retired and Jan van Zoest, already clematis grower in Boskoop, took over the collection and trade from Jan Fopma. He propagated the plant and was named in 1998 and introduced by J. van Zoest B.V., Boskoop, The Netherlands, in 2002.
Clematis ‘Fascination’ was recognised by the Royal Boskoop Horticultural Society with an Award of Merit in 2002 and received a Silver Medal at Plantarium in that same year.
The cultivar has been granted European Plant Breeders Right no 11471, Japanese Plant Breeders Right no 15968 and US Plant Patent no 14,770.
Growing, trading and sale as a pot plant and/or as a cut flower is only permitted under a contract.
Nomenclatural Standard deposited at NHN Leiden (L).
Seed plant:
Clematis ‘Olgae’ (Integrifolia Group) used for this crossbreeding was grown in the clematis collection of Jan Fopma, Boskoop, The Netherlands. Jan Fopma obtained his plant from Carol & Keith Fair of Valley Clematis Nursery, United Kingdom. The origin of the cultivar is a bit uncertain but it is known that Treasures of Tenbury, Burford House, United Kingdom, offered the plant at least in 1963. This cultivar is a true Integrifolia Group cultivar (see reference Wim Snoeijer (2008) Clematis Cultivar Group Classification. Private publication.) and has nothing to do with plants or names classified under Clematis × diversifolia or with plants or names classified in the Diversifolia Group.
Pollen plant:
The form used of Clematis fusca had glossy violet flowers, sometimes referred to as Clematis fusca subsp. violacea, Clematis fusca var. violacea or as Clematis ianthina. At botanical level, meaning for wild species, these latter names are not accepted (anymore) and are a synonym of Clematis fusca.
In the garden, however, these plants can be readily recognised from each other but they have, of course, nothing to do with species growing in the wild.
Wim Snoeijer