Clematis montana Buch.-Ham. ex DC. var. grandiflora

Horticultural & Botanical History

The Gardeners Chronicle reported the introduction of C. montana grandiflora, a large-flowered variant from China.  [Gard. Chron. 1844]. 

‘This handsome variety of the very fragrant Clematis montana flowered, in the open ground, in the garden of Mr. Veitch of Exeter, at the same time with the ordinary form of the plant, of which the blossoms are not half so large.  Both are well worth cultivating in gardens, where there is accommodation for climbers.  The profusion of large flowers, the delicacy of their colour, and their fragrance, are strong recommendations.  The species is a native of Northern India.  Dr. Buchanan Hamilton collected it at Chitlong in the valley of Nepal, flowering in April.  Mr.Blinkworth gathered it in Kamaon, and Dr. Royle notices it as prevalent in the Himalayan Mountains, at an elevation of from 5,000 to 7,000 feet above the level of the sea.  In our country it flowers in early summer, and indeed, through the month of September.  In a few years it ought to become a very general plant, for it strikes readily from cuttings, and from layers.’  [BM t.4061/1844].  

History at Camden Park

Listed only in the 1857 catalogue [T.323/1857].  Probably obtained from Veitch’s Nursery, brought out from England by Captain P. P. King in 1849 although the record is a little ambiguous, the ‘o’ next to the name, denoting a plant new to the colony, being crossed out.  [ML A1980-3].

Notes