Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Clematis leptophylla

Flowering stems with male flowers. Photographer Don Wood, Cotter River, ACT

Flowering stems with female flowers. Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Murray Fagg, Mt Ainslie, Canberra

Stems with spent flowers. Photographer Michael Bedingfield, Canberra, ACT

Leafy stems with fluffy seeds. Photographer Michael Bedingfield, Canberra, ACT

Flowering plant. Photographer Michael Sim, Canberra, ACT

Common name

Small-leaved clematis, Old man's beard, Clematis, Narrow-leaved clematis

Family

Ranunculaceae

Where found

Forest, woodland, rocky areas, and along streams. Tablelands, ACT, the mountains to the west, and Kosciuszko National Park.

Notes

Woody or perennial climber to about 5 m high, or trailing. Young stems sparsely hairy, soon becoming hairless. Leaves opposite each other, 5-15 cm long, compound, divided into 3's two or three times, or occasionally a few leaves entire; terminal leaflets 0.2–2.5 cm long, 1–3 mm wide, margins sometimes with 1 or 2 basal lobes but lacking teeth, tips usually blunt, leaf stalks often twining or twisting. Male and female flowers on different plants. Flowers with 4 petal-like sepals to 20 mm long, pale yellow or greenish cream to creamy-white, sometimes with a pinkish blush, in few to many-flowered clusters.

Was Clematis microphylla var. leptophylla.

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~leptophylla (accessed 7 January, 2021)