Virgin's bower Traditional Cache

Virgin's Bower is the native, wild Clematis. This is on a trail from the Fishing access parking at Dryden Lake.

Virgin’s bower

Clematis virginiana (also known as devil's darning needles, devil's hair, love vine, traveller's joy, virgin's bower, Virginia virgin's bower, wild hops, and woodbine; ) is a vine of the Ranunculaceae (Buttercup Family) native to the United States and Canada from Newfoundland to southern Manitoba down to the Gulf of Mexico. The rationale for some of the common names is unclear, as they include examples normally applied to unrelated plants, including twining parasites (e.g. "devil's hair" for Cuscuta). The name “Love Vine" also is applied to alleged aphrodisiacs, such as Caribbean species of Cassytha, which are unrelated to Clematis, not being in the family Ranunculaceae.

This plant is an aggressively growing vine which can climb to heights of 10–20 feet by twisting leafstalks. The leaves are opposite and pinnately compound, trifoliate (3 leaflets) that have coarse unequal teeth on the margins. It produces small dull white flowers of 13 to 19mm or 1/4 to 1/2" wide in July into September that are faintly sweetly fragrant; normally dioecious so that there are separate staminate (male) and pistillate (female) plants. The male plants are a little showier in flower and don't bear seed. The dry fruit is an achene with long hair as silvery gray feathery plumes attached in late August into November. It grows on the edges of the woods, moist slopes, fence rows, in thickets and on streambanks. It grows in full sun to light full shade and is very adaptable to many soils from sandy to clay, dry to draining wet, and acid to alkaline with pH range of 6.0 to 8.5. It has a deep but sparse, fibrous root system that makes it hard to transplant. Good for USDA hardiness zones of 3 to 8. Virgin's Bower is not commonly planted in gardens and landscapes in most places. It is sold by a good number of native plant nurseries and some specialty and large conventional nurseries.

What is usually sold at most every conventional nursery or garden center is the similar sweetautumn clematis, Clematis terniflora, from Japan that is much more rampant growing, that bears heavier clouds of white flowers with a stronger fragrance, that has simple leaves not compound with 3 leaflets, that as one plant self-sows around a lot, and becomes an invasive plant when escaping cultivation in North America.

Along country roads in autumn in the eastern United States, large masses of soft grayish fluff blanketing mounds of shrubbery are a common, if puzzling, sight. What kind of plant would produce them? Return in summer, and you’ll find that the bushes are now covered with small, creamy-white flowers. A closer look will show that the flowers are on vines that are climbing through and over the supporting shrubs and are not part of the shrubs themselves. The vines are the poetically named virgin’s bower (Clematis virginiana), country cousins of the popular hybrid clematises whose huge, vivid-colored flowers cover arbors and trellises everywhere.

The leaves of C. virginiana are opposite, pinnately divided into three coarsely toothed, somewhat oval leaflets. The entire leaf measures about 4 inches long by 3 inches wide. The plant climbs by wrapping its leaf stalks around any handy support. And it’s a vigorous grower: the ribbed, slightly hairy stems may grow 20 feet or longer. When not in bloom, virgin’s bower can be confused with poison ivy, another vigorous vine with leaves divided into three sometimes coarsely toothed leaflets (“Leaflets three, let it be”). The opposite leaves and twining

The active component in virgin’s bower has been identified as the lactone protoanemonin, a compound found throughout the plant and also present in high quantities in other buttercup family members including baneberries, pasqueflowers, and buttercups. Protoanemonin has been found to inhibit the growth of bacteria, viruses, fungi, yeasts, and tumors, and to lower fevers and expel intestinal parasites. Unfortunately, this powerful drug is also highly toxic to humans. It is irritating to the skin and mucous membranes.

Merely touching the leaves of virgin’s bower can raise blisters in sensitive individuals, so it’s a good idea to wear gloves when handling the plant.

Ingestion can cause bloody vomiting, severe diarrhea, fainting, and convulsions. It goes without saying that there are safer alternatives.

The cache is a camoed, fair sized, "small" pill bottle, the push to turn kind. So far, it has only a rolled log with a rubber band and a plastic bag to keep it all dry. There's room for small SWAG and a small pencil, but you have to wait for Ithaca Doodle for that, so please, BYOP.

P.S. The cache had to be moved. It was too close to Blue Vervain. It is now 30' before the Virgin's Bower flowers. I hope you continue the trail to see them, if they are still in bloom.