(2006)  Page(s) 7.  Includes photo(s).
 
Clematis afoliata Buchanan
Common name: Leafless clematis
Distinguishing features: This is the most unusual of Wellington’s indigenous clematis. As its name suggests, Clematis afoliata is distinguished by its lack of leaves. It is a sprawling yellowish-green vine which usually appears as a tangled mass of wiry stems bound together by spiralling tendrils. It grows to about 1.5 m tall. Although it is slow growing, this pioneer species is used in early stages
of ecological restoration projects. The greenish-yellow male flowers are 3–4 cm across and often have
a reddish blotch at the base of the 4 sepals. The female flowers are similar but slightly smaller.
Habitat requirements: It is found on open, rocky scrubland or grassland and has been recorded
hanging down cliffs.
Flowering time: August–November
Fruit: November–January
Regional status: Gradual Decline

(2006)  Page(s) 8.  Includes photo(s).
 
Clematis foetida Raoul.
Common name: Yellow clematis
Distinguishing features: Clematis foetida is distinguished by the large volume of strongly scented, star-shaped, yellow flowers 1.5–2.5 cm across. It is a large climbing vine with 3-foliate leaves. The dark-green leathery leaflets sit at the end of long, hairy petioles. The leaflets are highly variable in shape and may be either smooth or hairy. It is evergreen.
Habitat requirements: It can be found in shrub/scrubland or along forest edges where it grows well up into the trees and can get up to 10 m tall, nearly as large as Clematis vitalba or C. paniculata.
Flowers: September–November.
Fruit: November–January
Regional status: Not threatened

(2006)  Page(s) 9.  Includes photo(s).
 
Clematis forsteri Gmelin.
Common name: Small white clematis
Distinguishing features: Clematis forsteri has 3-foliate leathery leaves which vary in shape. The slender petiole is usually from 2–5 cm long. The flowers have sepals that are hairy on both surfaces, especially on the underside. They are similar to C. foetida, but do not have such a strong smell. The C. forsteri flowers are described as having a spicy cinnamon or clove scent. The central bundle of long stamens is tipped with pink anthers on the male flowers. On the female flowers, feathery styles reach 2–3.5 cm long at fruiting. Fewer flowers than C. foetida, and smaller flowers than C. paniculata, it is known to interbreed with both species. C. forsteri is a moderately fast growing, evergreen climber that can attain heights of up to 10 m.
Habitat requirements: Lowland forest and scrub, especially forest edges.
Flowers: September–November
Fruit: November–January
Regional status: Not threatened

(2006)  Page(s) 12.  
 
Clematis hookeriana is a name that was adopted by Allan (1961) for plants now referred to the admittedly rather variable C. forsteri .... Previously this species had been considered endemic to the Cook Strait coastline. Allan (1961) had coined the name because he believed that such plants had previously been wrongly identified as either Clematis hexasepala (Hooker 1852) or Clematis colensoi (Hooker 1864)—names which are, for various reasons no longer in use today anyway. As regards C. hookeriana, Heenan and Cartman (2000) showed that the name was illegitimate and invalid because a Latin description or diagnosis had not been prepared for it by Allan (1961) nor did he select a type specimen.

(2006)  Page(s) 11.  Includes photo(s).
 
Clematis quadribracteolata Colenso.
Common name: None known
Distinguishing features: As the name implies, C. quadribracteolata is easily recognised by its four small, purple-brown bracts which are sparsely hairy underneath. It is a slender vine with narrow branchlets and thin, brownish-green, 3-foliate leaves with sparse hairs. It is usually found trailing through or climbing over low vegetation. The plumose styles of the female flowers are 2–3.5 cm long. Evergreen.
Flowers: September–October
Fruit: November–December
Habitat requirements: Clematis quadribracteolata grows on tussock grasses in the North Island especially in damp areas. In Wellington Conservancy it is found in low, wet areas near streams and along roads.
Regional status: Regionally Critical

(2006)  Page(s) 10.  Includes photo(s).
 
Clematis paniculata Gmelin.
Common names / Maori names: White clematis, Bridal Veil, Bush clematis, Puawhananga, Piki-kai-arero
Distinguishing features: Large white sepals (5–10 cm) surround a cluster of yellow stamens topped with pinkish-red anthers. Female flowers similar but smaller. It is a large, fast-growing vine with thick stems at the base which climb up to 15 m into the trees. The abundant flowers are often lost in the tree tops, or found cascading over indigenous shrubs. The flowers have a sweet smell, though not as strong as the other species. The dark-green foliage has shiny compound leaves bearing three leaflets at the end of long twining petioles. By December, the female flowers are replaced with silvery seed heads consisting of persistent plumose styles 3–5 cm long. This is an evergreen species.
Habitat requirements: Common in lowland and low mountain slopes on the edge of forest fragments.
Flowers: August–November
Fruit: October–January
Regional status: Not Threatened

(2006)  Page(s) 15.  Includes photo(s).
 
Clematis flammula L.
Common name: Fragrant virgin’s bower
Distinguishing features: Perennial, deciduous woody climber, stem terete, weak ribbing. Leaves very sparsely hairy, green and thick, 2-pinnate, 8–15 × 3–12 cm, ovate to lanceolate, cuneate to truncate at base, acute to obtuse; margin entire or 2–3 lobed; petiole glabrous, 4–5 cm long. Small white flowers 20–30 mm diameter with 4 sepals. Seeds hairy & compressed, 5–6 mm long.
Habitat: Mostly found scrambling in hedges and scrub.....Specimens have been collected from Wellington....and has been recorded as adventive but uncommon at the rest area on the Masterton to Eketahuna road near Mount Bruce....
Flowers: January–March.
Fruit: May
Regional status: Naturalised garden escape

(2006)  Page(s) 13.  Includes photo(s).
 
Clematis vitalba L.
Common names: Old man’s beard, traveller’s joy.
Distinguishing features: Clematis vitalba is a large smothering vine that grows to 20 m tall. Unlike indigenous clematis, it is deciduous and its leaves have 5 leaflets. It is also poisonous. Its cream coloured flowers are 2–3 cm wide with hairy sepals bent back from the centre and a central cluster of stamens. The flowers are hermaphrodite and bear long fluffy persistent styles when in fruit. It spreads by seeds and adventitious roots. C. vitalba was introduced to New Zealand from Europe as an ornamental in the 1920s. Millions of dollars have since been spent trying to eradicate it and repair the damage it has done to forests. The strongly ribbed stems must be destroyed or they will re-sprout.
Habitat requirements: Common on the edges of second-growth forest, along hedges and in trees.
Flowers: December–May
Fruit: March–October
Regional status: ‘Unwanted Organism’ under the Biosecurity Act 1993: it is illegal to propagate,
sell or distribute C. vitalba in New Zealand. An invasive pest plant.