Clematis patens

Also known as Spreading Clematis, Kazaguruma Clematis, Japanese Clematis

Spreading clematis climbs by twisting its sensitive leaf petioles around neighboring shrubs, ascending rapidly into the sunlight along East Asian woodland margins. In late spring, it unfurls dramatic, broad-faced blossoms with six to eight pointed sepals that range from pale lilac to creamy white around a dense cluster of stamens. Extensively bred by horticulturists since the nineteenth century, this wild climber forms the genetic foundation for nearly all modern large-flowered garden clematis cultivars.