Clematis vitalba is a shrub of the Ranunculaceae

Ranunculaceae

Ranunculaceae are a family of about 1700 species of flowering plants in about 60 genera, distributed worldwide....

 family.

Description

Clematis

Clematis

Clematis is a genus of about 300 species within the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. Their garden hybrids have been popular among gardeners beginning with Clematis × jackmanii, a garden standby since 1862; more hybrid cultivars are being produced constantly. They are mainly of Chinese and Japanese...

 vitalba is a climbing shrub with branched, grooved stem

Plant stem

A stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant. The stem is normally divided into nodes and internodes, the nodes hold buds which grow into one or more leaves, inflorescence , conifer cones, roots, other stems etc. The internodes distance one node from another...

s, deciduous

Deciduous

Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...

 leaves, and scented greeny-white flowers with fluffy underlying sepal

Sepal

A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...

s. The many fruits formed in each inflorescence

Inflorescence

An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...

 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 larva

Larva

A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...

e of moth

Moth

A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...

s including The V-Pug

V-Pug

The V-Pug is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is found throughout the Palearctic region, the Near East and North Africa. It is well distributed in the British Isles except for the north of Scotland....

 and Double-striped Pug

Double-striped Pug

The Double-striped Pug is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is a widespread and common species, being found throughout the Palearctic region, the Near East and North Africa....

 and the leaves by Willow Beauty

Willow Beauty

| image = Peribatodes.rhomboidaria.7197.jpg| image_width = 240px| image_caption = Adult male from Dresden | regnum = Animalia| phylum = Arthropoda| classis = Insecta| ordo = Lepidoptera| zoodivisio = Ditrysia| familia = Geometridae...

.

Characteristics

• Reproductive organs:
  • Inflorescence type: biparous
    Parity (medicine)
    In biology, parity is a technical term that refers to the number of times a female has given birth to a fetus.It can lead to some ambiguity for events occurring between 20 and 24 weeks, and for multiple pregnancies.-Enumeration:...
    
     cyme
  • Sex: hermaphrodite
    Hermaphrodite
    In biology, a hermaphrodite is an organism that has reproductive organs normally associated with both male and female sexes.Many taxonomic groups of animals do not have separate sexes. In these groups, hermaphroditism is a normal condition, enabling a form of sexual reproduction in which both...
    
    
  • Type of pollination: entomophilous
    Entomophily
    Entomophily is a form of pollination whereby pollen is distributed by insects. Several insect are reported to be responsible for the pollination of many plant species, particularly bees, Lepidoptera , wasps, flies, ants and beetles. Some plant species co-evolved with a particular pollinator, such...
    
    
• Seed:
  • Type of fruit: achene
    Achene
    An achene is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate and indehiscent...
    
    
  • Dissemination: With the wind
• Habitat and distribution:
  • Type of habitat: Mid-European
    Central Europe
    Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
    
     shrubberies, mountainsides, in moderately eutrophic regions
  • Distribution: Holarctic
    Holarctic
    The Holarctic ecozone refers to the habitats found throughout the northern continents of the world as a whole. This region is divided into the Palearctic, consisting of Northern Africa and all of Eurasia, with the exception of Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent, and the Nearctic,...
    
    

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.

In New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

  it is declared an "unwanted organism" and is listed in the National Pest Plant Accord

National Pest Plant Accord

The National Pest Plant Accord identifies pest plants that are prohibited from sale and commercial propagation and distribution across New Zealand....

. 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.

Gallery

External links

• Global Invasive Species Database - Clematis vitalba
• Clematis vitalba in Topwalks
• Bioimages.org: Traveller's Joy