Traveller’s Joy: Old Man’s Beard

This wild clematis had one very strange use in past times

Traveller’s joy (Clematis vitalba) is known by a different name after the flowers have gone and the seeds have formed, which is “Old man’s beard” (see picture), due to the long wispy tufts that flow from the end of each seed.

It is a wild clematis that is found in southern Britain, especially on chalky soil. It is always found in association with other hedge plants such as elder or hawthorn because it is a climber, relying on other plants to support it. However, unlike ivy it is not parasitic.

The woody stems twine around the thicker stems of the host plant and can reach 100 feet (30 metres) in length. The leaves consist of three to five pointed leaflets. The flowers are small and do not have true petals but coloured sepals (white or greenish) and long stamens that give off a vanilla-like odour.

However, it is during its old man’s beard phase that this plant is most noticeable, with the clusters of feathery plumes looking just curly white hair.

Another name for this plant is “boy’s baccy”, from the habit of country boys in the past of smoking the stems when dried. Another, somewhat bizarre use in times gone by, was by tramps and beggars who would rub the stems against their legs so that the sap, which is a mild irritant, would…