''Clematis armandii'' (also called Armand clematis or evergreen clematis) is a flowering climbing plant of the genus ''

Clematis ''Clematis'' is a genus of about 300 species within the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae. Their garden hybrids have been popular among gardeners, beginning with ''Clematis'' × ''jackmanii'', a garden standby since 1862; more hybrid cultivars ...

''. Like many members of that genus, it is prized by

gardeners A gardener is someone who practices gardening, either professionally or as a hobby. Description A gardener is any person involved in gardening, arguably the oldest occupation, from the hobbyist in a residential garden, the home-owner supplem ...

for its showy

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s. It is native to much of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

(except the north and extreme south) and northern

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

. The plant is a woody perennial. It attracts bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.

In cultivation

''C. armandii'' bears fragrant 2.5-inch white flowers in spring on the previous year's growth. Its dark green leaves droop to create a textured look, and it serves well as a screen. It may grow to a height of 20 feet. Its leaf tips may burn badly if grown in salty soil or water. In the USA it grows best in

American Horticultural Society The American Horticultural Society (AHS) is a nonprofit, membership-based organization that promotes excellence in American horticulture. It is headquartered at River Farm in Alexandria, Virginia. History Established in 1922, the AHS is one of t ...

zones 9 to 7, which are generally found in the southern USA.

Cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

s include the pink-flowered 'Hendersonii Rubra' as well as 'Apple Blossom' and 'Snowdrift'.

Etymology

'Clematis’ is the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

name for several climbing plants, and is a diminutive of ‘klema’ means ‘vine shoot’.Gledhill, David (2008). "The Names of Plants". Cambridge University Press. (hardback), (paperback). pp 56, 111 Named for Father

Armand David Father Armand David (7 September 1826, Espelette – 10 November 1900, Paris) was a Lazarist missionary Catholic priest as well as a zoologist and a botanist. Several species, such as Père David's deer, are named after him — be ...

(1826-1900), a Jesuit missionary and plant collector in

References

armandii Flora of Myanmar Flora of China Flora of Tibet Plants described in 1885 {{Ranunculales-stub