Clematis heracleifolia features nodding, deep blue-flowered bell-shaped blooms on a low-growing, spreading perennial plant with trifoliate leaves. Root-hardy in the Chicago area (where it gets frozen to the ground each winter), in warmer climates it grows as a deciduous creeping vine. It grows well in full sun and partially shaded gardens. Native to China, the flower shape, size, and sprawling habit are shared with many of the clematis native to North America — a characteristic described as an "analog" in the scientific literature.

The genus Clematis is derived from the Greek clema (tendril) used by Dioscorides to describe several plants that climbed by use of tendrils at the tips of the leaves. There are more than 200 species in this genus, which is found in northern and southern hemisphere temperate regions, and the mountains of Africa. Clematis culture in Europe began in the sixteenth century with the arrival of cultivars grown in Japanese gardens passing through the Dutch and Portuguese trading depots in Japan.