Clematis vitalba
| Clematis vitalba | |
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| The silky appendages of the fruits | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Division: | Magnoliophyta |
| Class: | Magnoliopsida |
| Order: | Ranunculales |
| Family: | Ranunculaceae |
| Genus: | Clematis |
| Species: | C. vitalba |
| Binomial name | |
| Clematis vitalba L. (1753) |
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Clematis vitalba (also known as Old man's beard and Traveller's Joy) is a shrub of the Ranunculaceae family.
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[edit] Description
Clematis vitalba is a climbing shrub with branched, grooved stems, deciduous leaves, and scented greeny-white flowers with fluffy underlying sepals. The many fruits formed in each inflorescence have long silky appendages which, seen together, give the characteristic appearance of Old Man's beard. The grooves along the stems of C. vitalba can easily be felt when handling the plant.
The flowers of this species are eaten by the larvae of moths including The V-Pug and Double-striped Pug and the leaves by Willow Beauty.
[edit] Characteristics
- Reproductive organs:
- Inflorescence type: biparous cyme
- Sex: hermaphrodite
- Type of pollination: entomophilous
- Seed:
- Type of fruit: achene
- Dissemination: With the wind
- Habitat and distribution:
- Type of habitat: Mid-European shrubberies, mountainsides, in moderately eutrophic regions
- Distribution: Holarctic
[edit] Invasive character.
Due to its disseminatory reproductive system, vitality, and climbing behavior, Clematis vitalba is an invasive plant in most places, included many in which it is native. Some new tree plantations can be suffocated by a thick layer of Clematis vitalba, if not checked. [1]
In New Zealand it is declared an "unwanted organism" and is listed in the National Pest Plant Accord. It cannot be sold, propagated or distributed. It is a potential threat to native plants since it grows vigorously and forms a canopy which smothers all other plants and has no natural controlling organisms in New Zealand. New Zealand native species of Clematis have smooth stems and can easily be differentiated from C. vitalba by touch.
[edit] Gallery
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[edit] References
- ^ Invasive Species Compendium. "Clematis vitalba". http://www.cabi.org/isc/?compid=5&dsid=14280&loadmodule=datasheet&page=481&site=144. Retrieved October 2011.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Clematis vitalba |
- Global Invasive Species Database - Clematis vitalba
- Clematis vitalba in Topwalks
- Bioimages.org: Traveller's Joy
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