It's called the "Queen of Flowers", but it has no petals...

In addition to the common wintersweets, plum blossoms, camellias, sasanquas and daffodils that bloom in the snowy winter, the author also discovered a brave and strong "white flower", which also blooms during the coldest time of the year.

This "white flower" is called Clematis unifolia, and it is very fragrant. The four white sepals on its periphery are particularly thick, acting as the "warm clothing" of Clematis unifolia. At the same time, it is also the "billboard" of Clematis unifolia, attracting insects to come for pollination. In the center of the flower, the dense stamens surround the pistils, and the filaments of the stamens are all covered with dense hairs, which tightly wrap the anthers containing pollen inside. The pistils in the center are also covered with hairs. The insect that pollinates it is the thrips, which are very small, with a diameter of only 0.1 mm and a length of about 1.5 mm. You need a magnifying glass to see it clearly. The thrips can easily get into the warm stamens and move freely, helping the clematis to pollinate.

Flowers have their own secrets. Clematis simplicifolia and thrips can be regarded as a model of mutual assistance between animals and plants. The tiny thrips safely enjoy the sweet nectar in the warm flowers, and Clematis simplicifolia is not worried about the lack of insects to help pollinate. They are "good for you, good for me, and good for everyone".

The author consulted relevant information and found that there is a plant called Clematis caudata in the mountains of southwest my country, which can also bloom smiling faces among the branches of ice and snow. The leaves are three-petaled, and the inflorescence is axillary. The "flowers" are slightly opened like small bells. Different from the white small bells of the single-leaf Clematis, the outer sepals of the Clematis caudata will show a gradient pink.

Clematis is a radiant family belonging to the genus Clematis of the family Ranunculaceae. Clematis has thin and hard stems, which it uses to climb trees or walls. It looks like brown or purple thin wires and is a world-famous climbing plant. Its "flowers" look like lotus at first glance, so it got the intuitive name Clematis.

The "flowers" blooming among the green leaves are either elegant and beautiful or passionate and delicate, all of which are equally beautiful and eye-catching. In full bloom, the clematis climbing all over the wall is like a large-scale flower waterfall, with the "flowers" crowded together, competing for beauty and beauty, making it very lively. The flowering period can last from May to November, and it is known as the "Queen of Climbing Flowers".

In fact, Clematis, like Columbine Flower, has no petals. What we think of as "petals" are not petals in the true sense - they are sepals of Clematis plants. In the Flora of China, the description of the flowers of Clematis plants is as follows: 4 or 6-8 sepals, erect into a bell-shaped, tubular, or spreading, buds are often arranged in a valvate shape, petals do not exist, stamens are numerous, hairy or hairless, connectives are not prominent or extended; degenerate stamens sometimes exist.

The real flower of Clematis is the spherical inflorescence in the center. There are many pistils and stamens, and the ovary is covered with soft hairs. After successful pollination, it will develop into aggregate achenes. The base of each hairy ovary is swollen, and the remaining style is curved like a strand of wool.

The cultivation history of Clematis, which originated in China, can be traced back to the Ming Dynasty at least. The Qing Dynasty horticultural work "Hua Jing" has recorded its double-petal varieties with stamen petals. The revised edition of "Flora of China" describes that there are about 147 species of Clematis in my country, accounting for 40% of the world's total, making China the country with the richest Clematis species in the world. Wild Clematis is distributed throughout the country, especially in the southwest region where the most species are found.

Clematis was introduced to the UK in 1776. In 1836, another species of Clematis, "Rotor Clematis", was introduced to the UK via Japan. "Hairy Clematis" was also introduced to the UK in 1850. These three species of Clematis were hybridized with "Southern European Clematis" to obtain the modern "Big Flower Clematis" population, which has more than 200 species. In France, the ancestors of Clematis also have a strong oriental bloodline. Today, there are about 350 known wild Clematis species in the world, and more than 3,000 artificially cultivated species.

Whether at home or abroad, every time I see Clematis, I am moved by it. "How can a few iron wires/Hold her heart that yearns for the sky/This morning, she used her brilliant smile/To wake up the poet's window..." I forgot who the author of this poem is, but every time I see the brilliant "smile" of Clematis, these lines of poetry will pop up for no reason and flash between the petals.

(The author Qi Yunzhi is a researcher at Shaanxi Institute of Botany)