The following was received via email: I have been in contact with Raymond Evison, clematis breeder in the U.K. regarding an unknown clematis that I purchased from a local nursery in Ontario. I sent the attached digital photos and he suggested I contacted UBC since he thought it may have come out of there. It has been flowering for the last couple of weeks. The flower is small with very rigid waxy petals that open out nearly flat. There is a hint of pink on the outer surface of the petals and each petal has a distinctive ridge. The leaves are hard and also very rigid. I would appreciate any information you could give regarding the identity of this clematis.
I can answer quickly that this Clematis did not come from the UBC plant introduction program, although a selection was made that does look a little similar - Clematis chiisanensis Lemon Bells - perhaps this is what Mr. Evison was remembering. This isn't a chiisanensis cultivar (or species), however, as it lacks spurs at the base of the sepals. We'll see what we can do to ID it - I'll contact the International Clematis Society.
The following answer was received from Brewster Rogerson of the International Clematis Society: I think the plant can be safely identified as Clematis koreana var. lutea. The center is unusually bushy and open in this specimen, but that is well within the range of variability of the species, and both the bud and the foliage are characteristic. As to the spurs at the base of the sepals, they too can vary and may not be present or conspicuous on a given blossom. In my experience var. lutea is somewhat less likely to have prominent ones than the species proper.
