Swamp Leather Flower

Clematis crispa

native · Hill Country

Swamp Leather Flower is a vine native to the Texas Hill Country that grows 8–10 ft tall and 1 ft wide. It wants full sun or part shade and medium water, and handles clay soil. Blooms white, pink, blue and purple in Mar–Sep. Good for birds and butterflies.

Wet ground only. Usually found in wetlands and creek bottoms. It wants reliably moist ground and struggles in a dry upland bed.

Will it grow in your yard?

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The facts

5 sources

Type: Vine
Sun: Full sun to part shade (4–8 hrs of direct sun)
Water: Medium
Height: 8–10 ft
Spread: 1 ft
Bloom: Mar–Sep · white, pink, blue, purple
Foliage: Deciduous or dies back in winter
Soil: Takes clay · recorded on clay, loam, moist, rich, sand, wet
Wildlife: Supports birds and butterflies

Where it grows

Recorded in these EPA Level IV ecoregions in the Austin and Hill Country launch area:

Balcones CanyonlandsEdwards Plateau WoodlandNorthern Blackland PrairieFloodplains and Low Terraces

3 occurrence records in Central Texas (GBIF).

Can you buy it?

Also grows here — hard to find. Native and recorded growing in Central Texas, but not on the grower stock lists we read. Sourcing varies: some are stocked widely, others you will have to hunt for.

also grows from seed It starts readily from seed, so a packet from a native-seed supplier, or seed collected with permission, is often the easiest way to get a plant no nursery pots.