Travellers Joy Clematis vitalba (Fr. Clématite des haies).
Travellers Joy is a woody scrambling plant in the Ranunculus family (whoda thunk it?).
The leaves can burn or irritate the skin if they are rubbed and apparently beggars used to them to create ulcers on their skin to further encourage pity from passersby.
The scientific name means 'white vine' and it is native to the whole of the Northern Hemisphere. The vines can be used in basket and rope making.
Over winter they are covered in fluffy seedheads which give the plant a very characteristic look.
Flowering is June to August.
They grow more or less anywhere but prefer warm spots and calcareous soil.
Several species of lepidoptera use the plant as a host for eggs eg Hummingbird Hawk Moth, or caterpillars eg Brown Hairstreak.
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