Clematis viticella | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
(unranked): | Angiosperms |
(unranked): | Eudicots |
Order: | Ranunculales |
Family: | Ranunculaceae |
Genus: | Clematis |
Species: | C. viticella |
Binomial name | |
Clematis viticella L. |
Clematis viticella, the Italian leather flower,purple clematis, or "Virgin's bower", is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family; it is native to Europe. The climber was the first clematis imported into English gardens, where it was already being grown in 1569 by Hugh Morgan, apothecary to Elizabeth I of England. By 1597, when it was already being called "Virgin's Bower", there were two varieties in English gardens, a blue (actually a purple-blue) and a red.