48 Nebraskaland • October 2022
Hairy clematis in seed.
W
ith no formal training as a
writer, my Nebraskaland articles
usually require hard work — including
days pondering a storyline, late nights
writing and re-rewriting, as well as
extensive travel to obtain photos.
Recently, however, the storyline and
photos for an article on the rare hairy
clematis (Clematis hirisutissima) fell
into my lap.
The Plant
Although hairy clematis is common
throughout much of the western
United States, it is rare in Nebraska.
Here it has been found in the prairie and
open pine woods of the Pine Ridge in
Dawes and Sheridan counties, where it
appears restricted to soils formed from
rare outcrops of interbedded chalk
and shale, the remains of ancient sea
deposits.
A perennial with a woody root,
hairy clematis has single, urn-shaped
flowers that hang from stem tips. The
unique flowers, which bloom April
through June, have blueish-purple,
hairy, leathery petals with curled
tips, and are the source of the plant's
other common names: sugarbowls,
vase-flower and leather-flower. The
seeds are clustered, each tipped with
a long, hairy plume designed for wind
dispersal.
Rediscovery
This past May during a meeting,
Chadron State College botanist
Steve Rolfsmeier, Game and Parks
Commission biologist Shelley Steffl,
Bird Conservancy of the Rockies
biologist Chelsea Forehead and Wild
Turkey Federation forester Bryce
Gerlach mentioned they would soon
be visiting a Pine Ridge ranch with
the chalk and shale outcrops to plan
a conservation project. Hearing this,
Rolfsmeier, who knows the history
and distribution of Nebraska's flora
like no other, asked them to keep an
eye out for the clematis while on the
ranch. He explained that the plant
had been collected in the area in 1974
and never again reported in Nebraska.
Perhaps, it still existed there.
A few days later, while hiking on the
ranch, Forehead saw a single, strange
flower and asked "What is this?"
Having done their research, Steffl
and Gerlach said simultaneously, "It's
hairy clematis."
Rediscovering
Hairy Clematis
Story and photos by Gerry Steinauer
