Clematis vitalba - Old Man's Beard

Another common name for this wild flower is Traveller's Joy. It is a perennial clambering plant, producing pale yellow flowers, typically 20 mm across, in July and August. The fruiting heads, which appear in autumn, are a mass of white fluffy seeds - hence the common name Old Man's Beard.

You will find this vine-like plant growing in hedges and on scrubby woodland. It is particularly common in limestone and chalk areas, but we photographed this specimen in the slightly acidic valley of the River Cych, in West Wales.