Clematis macropetala Ledeb.

Vines woody. Branches 4--6-angulate, sometimes shallowly 4-grooved, glabrous or only puberulous on nodes; bud scales deltoid to triangular, 0.2--1.8 cm, abaxially appressed puberulous. Leaves 2-ternate; petiole 3--5.5 cm; leaflet blades lanceolate, narrowly ovate, or ovate, 2--5 × 1--4.5 cm, papery, undivided or 3-parted, both surfaces sparsely puberulous or only subglabrous on basal veins, base broadly cuneate to rounded, margin serrate, apex acuminate; basal veins abaxially nearly flat. Flowers solitary, 3--6 cm in diam. Pedicel 8--13 cm, sparsely puberulous. Sepals 4, blue, purple, or white, ascending, narrowly ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 3--4(--4.8) × 1--1.5(--2.1) cm, abaxially densely puberulous, adaxially glabrous or sparsely puberulous, apex acute. Staminodes narrowly lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, slightly shorter than or equaling sepals, sometimes inner ones linear-spatulate to oblanceolate-linear, abaxially densely puberulous, adaxially glabrous or puberulous. Stamens 1--1.4 cm; filaments pubescent; anthers narrowly oblong to linear, 2.5--4 mm, abaxially puberulous on connective, apex obtuse. Ovaries pubescent. Style 0.8--1.2 cm, densely villous. Achenes obovate, ca. 4 × 2.5 mm, sparsely pubescent; persistent style 3.5--4 cm, plumose. Fl. Jul, fr. Aug.

Forests; 1700--2000 m, Gansu, Hebei, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, E Qinghai, S Shaanxi, Shanxi [E Mongolia, Russia (Far East, Siberia)].

Clematis macropetala is a species of flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae native to northwestern China, Mongolia, and adjoining areas of Siberia. Its cultivars 'Ballet Skirt', 'Lagoon', 'Pauline', and 'Wesselton' have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.