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  5. fluffy climber IDd by Mike Hardman and Jorun as Clematis vitalba
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fluffy climber IDd by Mike Hardman and Jorun as Clematis vitalba

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Hilary

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fluffy climber IDd by Mike Hardman and Jorun as Clematis vitalba
« on: November 04, 2011, 06:04:49 PM »
We saw a lot of this around Kastoria and near Prespa lakes in October.
Does any one know what it is?
I am sure I should remember what it is but don't

« Last Edit: April 06, 2012, 10:10:28 AM by Alisdair »
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MGS member
Living in Korinthos, Greece.
No garden but two balconies, one facing south and the other north.
Most of my plants are succulents which need little care
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MikeHardman

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    • www.mikehardman.com
Re: fluffy climber
« Reply #1 on: November 05, 2011, 08:07:04 AM »
Clematis vitalba - 'old man's beard', or if not that species, a close relative
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Mike
Geologist by Uni training, IT consultant, Referee for Viola for Botanical Society of the British Isles, commissioned author and photographer on Viola for RHS (Enc. of Perennials, The Garden, The Plantsman).
I garden near Polis, Cyprus, 100m alt., on marl, but have gardened mainly in S.England

Hilary

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Re: fluffy climber
« Reply #2 on: November 05, 2011, 08:44:49 AM »
Thanks Mike.
I Googled fluffy climber or something similar last night and came up with the same answer.
The bushes must be pretty in the summer when the flowers are out.
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MGS member
Living in Korinthos, Greece.
No garden but two balconies, one facing south and the other north.
Most of my plants are succulents which need little care
*

MikeHardman

  • Hero Member
    • www.mikehardman.com
Re: fluffy climber
« Reply #3 on: November 05, 2011, 09:05:12 AM »
In summer, the flowers are nice though small; like many a wild plant, close inspection is warranted to appreciate their simple beauty. This is a vigorous climber. I grew up with it as a kid, living in the countryside on the chalk of the North Downs, in SE England. It would scramble up through trees and grow as they grew, leaving the trees with considerable trunks and the Clematis with considerable vines hanging a long way down from them. They were most excellent for swinging on, Tarzan fashion! :)
Ahh - them were the days.
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Mike
Geologist by Uni training, IT consultant, Referee for Viola for Botanical Society of the British Isles, commissioned author and photographer on Viola for RHS (Enc. of Perennials, The Garden, The Plantsman).
I garden near Polis, Cyprus, 100m alt., on marl, but have gardened mainly in S.England

Hilary

  • Hero Member
Re: fluffy climber
« Reply #4 on: November 29, 2011, 07:16:54 PM »
Saw this in Sparta a couple of weeks ago.
There were some fluffy balls of seeds nearby but not as fluffy as the ones we saw in the north of Greece.
Saying that we passed by lots of trees covered in large fluffy seed balls on the mountain road between Tripolis and Sparta.
In the spring we will stop and look at the flowers there.
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MGS member
Living in Korinthos, Greece.
No garden but two balconies, one facing south and the other north.
Most of my plants are succulents which need little care
*

JTh

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Re: fluffy climber
« Reply #5 on: November 29, 2011, 08:40:56 PM »
Hilary, if you take a closer look at those fluffy seedballs now, you should be able to see if it's a Clematis vitalba or C. flammula. The first one produces more fluff than C. flammula, but even the latter one has very feathery seedballs, see the first of the photos, but the seed itself of C. flammula is much bigger (second photo) than that of C. vitalba (third photo), which has longer feathery appendixes.
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Retired veterinary surgeon by training with a PhD in parasitology,  but worked as a virologist since 1992.
Member of the MGS  since 2004. Gardening in Oslo and to a limited extent in Halkidiki, Greece.

Hilary

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Re: fluffy climber
« Reply #6 on: November 30, 2011, 07:09:48 AM »
Wow, Thanks for the reply.
How silly of me not to take a photo of the seeds I saw in Sparta.
If they are still there the next time we go down I will certainly will.
Your photos are so clear, lovely 
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MGS member
Living in Korinthos, Greece.
No garden but two balconies, one facing south and the other north.
Most of my plants are succulents which need little care
*

JTh

  • Hero Member
    • Email
Re: fluffy climber
« Reply #7 on: November 30, 2011, 10:19:42 AM »
I didn't know the difference between these two species until this autumn. There is a thread from 22. June which was started by Cali about distinguishing between C. vitalba and C. flammula, thanks to this I had a closer look in the autumn and I discovered that we had both species in our neighbourhood in Halkidiki.
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Retired veterinary surgeon by training with a PhD in parasitology,  but worked as a virologist since 1992.
Member of the MGS  since 2004. Gardening in Oslo and to a limited extent in Halkidiki, Greece.
*

JTh

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Re: fluffy climber
« Reply #8 on: November 30, 2011, 10:22:02 AM »
I had another look at you photo, both seeds and leaves really look like C. vitalba.
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Retired veterinary surgeon by training with a PhD in parasitology,  but worked as a virologist since 1992.
Member of the MGS  since 2004. Gardening in Oslo and to a limited extent in Halkidiki, Greece.
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