coyote's rope

English

Etymology

From American Indian myths about Coyote using the vine as a rope to trip people.[1]

Noun

coyote's rope (usually uncountable, plural coyote's ropes)

  1. (Western US) Either of two native species in the genus Clematis, Clematis lasiantha and Clematis ligusticifolia

References
  1. One example: Sara M. Schenck, E.W. Gifford (1952) “Karok Ethnobotany”, in University of California Anthropological Records‎, volume 13, number 6, page 383, column 2: “This plant is not used, but it figures in the story about Coyote, who set snares to catch young girls and make them fall down so he could have his way with them.”
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