NC INVASIVE PLANT COUNCIL
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Sweet Autumn Virgin's Bower 

​Clematis terniflora
Sweet autumn virgin’s bower (Clematis terniflora), also known as sweet autumn clematis, is a vigorous woody vine that has fragrant flowers which bloom in the fall. Native to Japan, sweet autumn virgin’s bower was introduced to the United States in the late 1800s as an ornamental plant and has since spread in parts of the Southeast and Midwest. This vine prefers sunny to partially shady habitat and is found invading forest edges, rights-of-way, and urban green spaces, especially near creeks.

​Sweet autumn virgin’s bower is a climbing, semi-evergreen vine with opposite compound leaves, each leaf composed of 3-5 glossy green leaflets, usually untoothed on mature plants.  Blooming in the late summer or early fall, the flowers are 4-petalled, pubescent, white, star-shaped, and are only about an inch across, with numerous white anthers protruding. The blooming of sweet autumns virgin’s bower is a spectacle, with flowers nearly covering the entire foliage.   Seed heads have long silvery-gray feather-like hairs attached.  While the seeds are large and not highly mobile, sweet autumn virgin’s bower produces prolific seed and is a rapidly growing species, usually up to 30 feet, overwhelming forest understories.   In North Carolina, it has been observed in the Mountains, Piedmont, and Coastal Plain.
Fact Sheet: Sweet Autumn Virgin's Bower
Picture
Photo Credit: Chris Evans, University of Illinois, Bugwood.org
Picture
Photo Credit: John Ruter, University of Georgia, Bugwood.org
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  • Home
  • About
    • Donate
    • Invasives 101
    • Membership
    • Board of Directors >
      • NC-IPC ByLaws
    • Contact
    • Listserve
  • News
    • Iverson Scholarship
    • Wildland Weeds Magazine
    • Calendar >
      • 2018 Workshop
  • NC Invasive Plants
    • Ailanthus Altissima (Tree-of-Heaven)
    • Elaeagnus umbellata (Autumn Olive)
    • Ficaria verna (Fig Buttercup)
    • Imperata cylindrica (Cogongrass)
    • Ligustrum sinense (Chinese Privet)
    • Ligustrum vulgare (Wild Privet)
    • Lonicera japonica (Japanese Honeysuckle)
    • Microstegium vimineum (Japanese Stilt Grass)
    • Nandina domestica
    • Nymphoides indica (water snowflake)
    • Paulownia tomentosa (Princess Tree)
    • Persicaria perfoliata (Mile-A-Minute Vine)
    • Pueraria montana (Kudzu)
    • Pyrus calleryana (Bradford Pear)
  • Annual Symposiums
    • 2022 Joint Symposium >
      • 2022 Speaker Presentations
    • 2021 Virtual Conference
    • 2019 Joint Symposium >
      • 2019 Presentations
    • 2018 Annual Symposium
    • 2017 Annual Symposium
    • 2016 Annual Symposium >
      • 2016 agenda
    • 2015 Annual Symposium >
      • 2015 Presentations
      • 2015 Agenda
  • Projects
    • Fig Buttercup Project
    • Eno River Hydrilla Project
    • Awareness Week
  • Awards
    • 2015 Student Competition Winners
    • 2015 EIA Award
    • 2014 EIA Award