Particularly common in the Isar floodplains near Munich, on the Inn, the Danube and the Lech. In winter, it presents itself as thousands of small and large twisted, free-lying strands; in summer, when leaves are sprouting everywhere, it becomes an impenetrable jungle that offers many animals protection from predators and provides safe nesting places for birds. I have rarely been so fascinated by a "normal" plant as the clematis.