Our results showed that the discrimination power of ITS, ETS, and atpB-rbcL was better than that of the other tested DNA regions. When all tested sequences combined, most of the sampled taxa wereresolved. Though the two taxa are closely related, they have differentiated clearly and formed two clades respectively. The mean divergence of the two taxa was 0.78%, which was higher than closely related Clematis species such as C. heracleifolia and C. pinnata (0.50 %). Considering molecular divergence, morphological differences, and distribution area, we raised C. acerifolia var. elobata to species level.