Erect, 1–2 ft. Branches grooved, pilose or pilose-pubescent, sometimes glabrescent at base. Upper leaves usually 3-foliolate; lower often 1-foliolate, terminal or solitary leaflet from linear-oblong or oblanceolate to obovate-cuneate, narrowed or more rarely slightly rounded below, often 3-lobate, broadly toothed or subentire, dentate only towards the apex; teeth mucronulate, silky or sparsely pilose below, thinly pilose, or glabrescent above, 1 1/2–4 in. long, 5–15 lines broad. Flowers solitary, 1 1/2–4 1/2 in. diam., white; sepals 4–6, broadly oblong or ovate-subacuminate, pilose or tomentose-pubescent externally or on both sides. Filaments compressed, silky below, much longer than the anthers. Achenes silky-pilose, with long plumose tails.
Distribution
Angola Lower Guinea Huilla, Dr. Welwitsch!White Nile Nile Land Petherick!Nile Land waste ground, Usni, common (a broader-leaved form), Speke and Grant!
Notes
Heads of fruit in Dr. Welwitsch's specimens, about 4 in. in diam., the tails of the achenes being more or less recurved when dry. Clematis trifida, Hook. Ic. Plant. 79, a Madagascar plant, is a near ally of this species.
