In compiling the International Clematis Register and Checklist 2002 the then International Registrar was unable to track down the origins of this cultivar. Private correspondence with a Clematis on the Web contact suggests that it may have been raised in the UK by the late Frank Watkinson.

Mike Denny, who provided the photo and who is the son of clematis breeders Vince and Sylvia Denny, writes "my mother ... says they were given a couple of Harlequin by Frank Watkinson who raised it in Yorkshire, one of which was then given to me."

The plant is apparently some 20 years old now and the blooms are up to 25cm across!