Traveller's Joy

Clematis vitalba

Plant Data

Order:

Ranunculales

Family:

Ranunculaceae (Buttercup)

Flowering Months:

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC

Flowers:

Greyish-white plumes which give the plant it's alternative common name of 'Old Man's Beard'.

Fruit:

An achene. The fruits have long, woolly white appendages attached. These persist throughout the winter.

Leaves:

Our only climber with opposite, pinnate leaves. Sometimes the leaflets are toothed. Individual leaflets can reach as much as 10cm in length. Deciduous.

Maximum Size:

30 meters spread.

Foraging Notes:

The young leaves and shoots are edible but caution is required as all parts of the plant are mildly poisonous. Eat only in small quantities.
Never consume a wild plant unless you are 100% certain that it is safe to eat and you know that you have identified it correctly.

Aroma:

Slightly pungent.

Other Names:

Beggar's Plant, Bind-with, Biting Clematis, Boy's Bacca, Devil's Twine, Father Christmas, Hedge Vine, Lady's Bower, Love, Maiden's Hair, Maiden's Honesty, Old Man, Old Man's Beard, Smoke Weed, Smoke Wood, Smoking Cane, Virgin's Bower, White Vine, Wild Clematis.

Habitats:

Grassland, hedgerows, riverbanks, roadsides, sand dunes, scrub, seaside, wasteland, woodland.