Clematis ligusticifolia

Western virgin's bower, Western Virgin's Bower

Family: Ranunculaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Western virgin's bower is a California native perennial found in wet places and along streams at elevations up to 2,400 meters. Flowering from June to September, this plant produces cream-white flowers in clusters with multiple blooms. Growing with climbing vines that can reach several meters in length, it has slender, flexible stems that wind and intertwine through surrounding vegetation. Its compound leaves feature 5 to 15 leaflets that are irregularly lobed or toothed, with the largest leaflets measuring 2 to 9 centimeters long. The fruit is characterized by hairy seed bodies that aid in wind dispersal.

Habitat: Along streams, wet places

Bloom period: Jun-Sep

Elevation: < 2400 m

Bioregions: CA

California counties: Trinity, San Bernardino, Colusa, Kern, Orange, Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Riverside, Marin, Siskiyou, Lake, Inyo, Monterey, Santa Clara, Butte, San Diego, Sonoma, Tulare, Santa Cruz, Alameda, Sierra, Shasta, Fresno, Mendocino, Tuolumne, Mono, Sacramento, San Luis Obispo, El Dorado, San Joaquin, Placer, Humboldt, Napa, Solano, San Benito, Mariposa, Amador, Tehama, Del Norte, San Mateo, Contra Costa, Merced, Nevada, Madera, Calaveras, Yolo, Modoc, Stanislaus

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.