Clematis ligusticifolia

Clematis ligusticifolia is a climbing, spreading vine with showy flowers. It is also known as old-man's beard, yerba de chiva, and virgin's bower, (though old-man's beard may also refer to C. vitalba, and virgin's bower may also refer to C. lasiantha). It is native to North America where it is widespread across the western United States in streamside thickets, wooded hillsides, and coniferous forests up to 8,500 feet (2,600 m). It was called "pepper vine" by early travelers and pioneers of the American Old West. They used it as a pepper substitute to spice up food since real black pepper (Piper nigrum) was a costly and rarely obtainable spice. Like the rest of the genus Clematis, it contains essential oils and compounds which are extremely irritating to the skin and mucous membranes. Unlike Black Pepper or Capsicum, however, the compounds in clematis cause internal bleeding of the digestive tract if ingested internally in large amounts. The plants can be toxic if consumed in large en......read more on Wikipedia.