Plant Wiki

The open plant encyclopedia

Know any plant.
Grow it well.

Snap a photo or search by any name to see how to care for it, where it comes from, whether it's safe, and a 3D model you can turn.

  • 13,000+plants with full pages
  • 365,000+plant species worldwide
  • 220+countries covered

Common in

See all

The plants people record most in your country, and ones that grow there wild.

What do you want to do?

Popular plants

Browse all plants

See them in 3D

All plants in 3D

Browse plants

Filter by what you want to do, shape, origin, country, care and safety.

Plant Wiki › Browse plants

Fragrant clematis

Clematis flammula

Also called Virgin's Bower, Fragrant Virgin's Bower, Traveller's Joy

Fragrant clematis
Photo: Alberto Salguero Quiles (P40p), CC BY-SA 3.0

Fragrant clematis is a deciduous climbing vine with strongly scented white flowers in summer, often grown over fences, trellises or as ground cover. It needs support to climb on and does best with its roots kept cool and shaded.

Family
Ranunculaceae (Buttercup family)
Grows as
Shrub, Climber
Light
Full sun
Water
Water regularly in dry spells, keeping the root zone moist but not waterlogged.
Soil
Fertile, well-drained soil rich in organic matter, with a neutral to slightly alkaline pH.
Temperature
Hardy in cold winters; protect young plants from frost. Ideal growing range roughly -15 to 30 °C.
How easy
Easy
Safety
Toxic: All parts contain protoanemonin and related compounds that irritate the skin and mouth and can cause vomiting and diarrhoea if eaten.. Toxic to cats and dogs (ASPCA).
Native range
Medit. to Pakistan
Climate
temperate

About

Clematis flammula, the fragrant virgin's bower, is a species of flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae. This deciduous climbing plant is native to southern Europe and northern Africa, but it is cultivated worldwide as an ornamental plant in gardens. It bears fragrant white flowers and small green achenes. When the flowers are newly opened they have a strong sweet almond fragrance. Clematis × aromatica, the scented clematis, is the result of a cross with Clematis integrifolia.

Clematis flammula grows in a tangled mass that is heavily sprinkled with flowers throughout the warmer months. It is popular with gardeners as a decoration along fences and trellises, or as ground cover. If it has no other plants or structures to climb on, it will climb on itself, forming a large, densely tangled bush. The plant sends out many shoots and can reach over five metres in height.

Other Clematis plants

Rush Stem Clematis · Clematis akebioides · Alpine clematis · Goat's Beard · Evergreen Clematis · Clematis aromatica · Pine hyacinth · Bigelow's leather flower · Traveler's-joy · Satincurls · Gold Wool Clematis · Early Virgin's Bower

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Clematis flammula by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

Pet safety from the ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant lists.

Credits & terms

Identify a plant

Point at a leaf or flower and snap. One plant in frame works best.

Your photo
Starting camera…