Sweet autumn clematis

Clematis terniflora, the sweet autumn clematis, is a vigorous woody perennial vine of the family Ranunculaceae climbing 5-9 m through shrubs and trees on slender, ridged, twining petioles. The opposite leaves are pinnately compound with three to five leathery, glossy, ovate leaflets that are entire or shallowly lobed and have heart-shaped bases. In late summer and autumn it produces masses of fragrant, four-petalled (technically four-sepaled) white flowers about 2-3 cm across in axillary and terminal panicles, attracting many pollinators. The flowers are followed by silvery, plumose-tailed achenes gathered in fluffy seed heads. Native to northeast Asia (China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, the Russian Far East), it is widely cultivated and has naturalised in parts of eastern North America.