Clematis viticella

Clematis viticella, the Italian leather flower, purple clematis, or "Virgin's bower", is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family; it is native to Europe. The climber was the first clematis imported into English gardens, where it was already being grown in 1569 by Hugh Morgan, apothecary to Queen Elizabeth, the "Virgin Queen". By 1597, when it was already being called "Virgin's Bower", there were two varieties in English gardens, a blue (actually a purple-blue) and a red.