Pale Leather Flower
Clematis versicolor
Found in rocky, calcareous woodlands, bluffs, and cliffs. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 82%
- Height
- 6–16 feet
- Spread
- 2–3 feet
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Somewhat dry to average
Space about 2.5 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 16 per 100 sq ft. Enter your bed size for a count
Will it fit your yard?
Rare or protected plant. Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions. Plant caution source
Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
Not yet recorded · Leaves · Bloom
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 2 Alabama counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

Cliffs, ledges and rocky summits

Who uses this plant?
11CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL
Genus host records with ranges including AL · Clematis
- Alcathoe carolinensisClematis Borer Moth
- Alcathoe caudataClematis Borer, Clematis Clearwing Moth
- Eutrapela clematariaCurved-Tooth Geometer, Purplish Brown Looper
- Horisme intestinataBrown Bark Carpet
- Hyphantria cuneaFall Webworm
- Orgyia leucostigmaWhite-Marked Tussock Moth
- Platynota idaeusalisTufted Apple-Bud Moth
- Pleuroprucha insulsariaCommon Tan Wave
- Pseudothyris sepulchralisMournful Thyris
- Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformisEvergreen Bagworm Moth
Show all 11
- Thyris maculataSpotted Thyris
9BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Clematis
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Ranunculaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 5–9
- Flower color
- White or purple
Growing sources and scope
- Flower color · “White or purple” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Hardiness · “Zones 5–9” · Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder
- Height · “6–16 feet” · Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Light · “Full sun” · Tennessee Smart Yards (ranked first; Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder differs) · Published Tennessee growing guidance; exact cached scientific heading
- Soil · “medium to moderately dry” · Tennessee Smart Yards (ranked first; Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder differs) · Published Tennessee growing guidance; exact cached scientific heading
- Spread · “2–3 feet” · Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder
Conservation status
| Alabama rank | S1 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | Not available |
| AL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Alabama Plant Atlas
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications

