British Native Trees
and Shrubs

Traveller's Joy or Old Man's Beard 
Clematis vitalba (Ranunculaceae)

On russet floors, by waters idle,
The pine lets falls its cone;
The cuckoo shouts all day at nothing
In leafy dells alone;
And traveller’s joy beguiles in autumn
Hears that have lost their own.

From The Last Poems
A.E. Houseman

This sweet-scented, woody climber is a vigorous perennial which in the wild can develop twisted, jungle-like, trailing stems as thick as a man’s wrist. Covered with stringy bark, these grow up to 30 m in length and from late April carry compound leaves of three to five pairs of well-spaced, oval, pointed leaflets, each 3-10 cm long, with lobed margins. When the stalks of the leaflets feel the pressure of a neighbouring plant they twine round it, using it as a climbing aid. In July and August fragrant clusters of greenish-white, four-sepalled flowers each 2 cm wide and with masses of stamens round the central group of long, hairy styles. These become the glorious, whitish, fluffy fruiting heads which often last until late winter and give the vine its other common name, old man’s beard. The long, feathery plume on each seed helps wind dispersal.

Traveller’s joy is found in hedgerows, woodland and scrub, usually on alkaline soils with a pH above 6.0, in the lowlands south of a line joining the Humber and Dee estuaries.

This climber can be grown through hedges, along fences or as a covering for a dead tree. But take care that it does not smother young plants or get a grip in open ground were it will quickly take over. It grows in sun or semi-shade and prefers alkaline soil. It is easily propagated by taking inter-nodal cuttings in summer or from ripe seed sown in late autumn and potted out in spring. They can be planted out the following autumn or spring.

The pollen-rich flowers are visited by numerous insects, including hoverflies and bees, both for pollen and the nectar at the base of the filaments. The leaves are food for the caterpillars of species of tortricoid moths. The whole plant provides cover for nesting birds and food for insectivores such as birds, shrews, bats, and other small mammals and frogs.

Page last updated - January 10, 2002  

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