Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Clematis aristata

Male flowers and leaf. Photographer Don Wood, near Kangaroo Valley

Flowering stems. Photographer Denise Grieg, Burragorang Valley west of Camden

Spent flowers. Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Denise Grieg, Bankstown Native Garden

Stem with leaves and fluffy seeds. Photographer Don Wood, Mumbulla State Forest north of Bega

Common name

Old man's beard, Clematis, Mountain clematis, Toothed clematis

Family

Ranunculaceae

Where found

Forest, moist gullies, and other moist sites. Widespread. Rare on the Western Slopes.

Notes

Woody or perennial twiner to 15 m high or more, sometimes trailing. Stems hairy, becoming hairless. Leaves opposite each other, mostly compound, with 3 leaflets (or simple on juvenile plants), stalks often twining or twisting around other stems etc. Leaflets and simple leaves 2–10 cm long, 10–50 mm wide, surfaces usually dull, hairless or young leaflets, hairy on the lower surface, margins with few to many teeth or occasionally entire. Juvenile leaves usually purplish with whitish streaks along the main veins. Male and female flowers on different plants. Flowers with 4 white to cream petal-like sepals each 13–35 mm long, and 0 petals. Flowers in branched clusters, sometimes single. Flowering: usually September–December.

All native plants on unleased land in the ACT are protected.

PlantNET description:   http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Clematis~aristata (accessed 7 January, 2021)