Clematis vitalba Traveller's-joy

A climbing perennial that is a well known plant of the British countryside with lots of local names. Apart from Traveller's-joy, it is also widely known as Old Man's Beard, which refers to the prominently feathered fruits that appear in autumn (see photos). It has a preference for calcareous soils but it is not a strict calcicole and it occurs throughout southern Britain in hedgerows, on walls, trees, and shrubs, along railways and in waste places. It appears to have become more common in recent decades but it is largely absent from Northern Britain. It is rather local in Wales where it is largely a lowland species. Flora of Glamorgan described it as a local species on calcareous soils in Gower and the Vale but in the decades since its publication Traveller's-joy has spread widely along roads in the South Wales Coalfield, including forest roads in conifer plantations.

Native