The name "Clematis" comes from the Greek word klēmatis (meaning "climbing plant") which stems [pun intended... LOL!] from the root word klēma meaning "vine, branch." It is a genus of 250-300 species and cultivars of flowering plants.

The above clematis isn't one of ours, but one I found climbing up a mailbox post on one of my jaunts into the countryside looking for old barns to photograph.

Most of the species of clematis originated in China, then spread to Japan, and from there to the rest of the world in the 1800s during trading expeditions. Only one species, with much smaller flowers, originated in Europe. I will show those later in the year when they begin blooming here.

Of the larger-flowered species of Asian origin, we had one plant in our yard, which bloomed each year for many years. I have no idea what variety it was, but it was pretty. Sadly, it was pulled-up by some well-meaning folk (who thought it was a weed, as it was not blooming at the time) who came to assist us with yard work one day, when my father was very ill and we were unable to do yard work, ourselves. Fortunately, I have one photo of a bloom that was taken before the untimely demise of the plant, and it is shown below. The flower was a solid, pale-purple all over; the whitish appearance of parts of the petals was due to the light at the time of the shot.

^{• CLEMATIS (unknown variety), PHOTO BY ME •}

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SOURCES
   ¹ OxfordDictionaries.com: Clematis
   ² Wikipedia.com: Clematis