Other common names include, “Texas virgin’s bower,” “Goatbeard,” “Grandad beard,” “Drummond clematis,” and “Love-in-the-mist,” to mention a few.
This vine has slender, woody stems with twining petioles.
Found growing on fence-lines and over shrubs and rocks on well-drained soils.
It is a dioeceous plant, with male and female flowers on separate plants.
The flowers on both are inconspicuous, appearing in the spring and summer, but on the females they are followed by extremely showy fruits with 3 inch-long silvery tails from August to October.
The long silvery tails resemble an “Old man’s beard,” thus the name reference.
This plant is cold hardy into the teens, but will grow from the roots the next spring.
It can tolerate moisture as well as drought. Once established, it is almost impossible to eliminate.
