Clematis petriei
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Lianes & Related Trailing Plants - Dicotyledons
Flower colours
Green, Yellow
Detailed description
Evergreen, woody dioecious vine usuually found twinning through shrubs within grey scrub, or within small trees along alluvial flats. Stems up to 2 m long and 5-6 mm diameter, ribbed, sparsely hairy when young, glabrate to glbarous when mature, ascending and spreading. leaves 3-foliolate, subcoriaceous to coriaceous, green to dark green. Leaflets 10-30 x 4-18 mm, simple to pinnate; broadly ovate to entire, crenate to deeply pinnatifid, apices of leaflets and pinnae apiculate, bases often oblique, attenuate to truncate; petioles andpetiolules 10-25 mm long, channelled, glabrous to sparsely hairy, twinning. Inflorescences axilalry; flowers solitary, or in 2-6-flowered clusters in leaf axils, or in dichasial cymes of 5-10; flowers 12-35 mm diameter. Pedicels 10-40 mm, hairy; bracts 6-14 x 1.7-6 mm. inserted about middle of pedicel, leaf-like, fused, spathulate, tinged red at base, apex obtuse or rounded both surfaces sparsely to moderately hairy. Male flowers with sepals 6-8, 5.5-20 x 1.7-9 mm, yellow-green, narrowly elliptic, elliptic, lanceolate to ovate, undersides covered with pilose to villous hairs, upper surface glabrous, apex subacute to obtuse; stamens 14-24, glabrous, filaments 1.8-7.4 mm; anthers 2-2.3 x 0.6 mm, linear-oblong, cream. Female flowers with sepals 6-8, 6-15 x 3.5-5 mm, yellow-green, narrowly elliptic, elliptic, lanceolate to ovate, undersides pilose to villous, upper surface glabrous, apex subacute to obtuse; carpels 30-40, ovary 1.2 x 0.4 mm, glabrous; style 4.4.-5.3 x 1.2-0.4 mm, curved; staminodes 6-12 in outer whorl only. Achenes 3.5-4.4 x 1.5-2.3 mm, chesnut-brown, glabrous, pappus hairs spreading.
Similar taxa
Allied to C. forsteri, and often included in this species by past treatments (which adopted a very broad circumscription for the species). Clematis petrei differs from C. forsteri by its fruity rather than spicy-scented flowers; uniformly yellow green rather than cream and basally red-brown coloured sepals; glabrous rather than hairy upper sepal surface; chestnut-brown rather than light to dark brown (red-brown) coloured, glabrous instead of finely hairy achenes; and distinctly spathulate rather than linear to elliptic, obtuse floral bracts with obtuse or rounded rather than acute to obtuse apices.
Distribution
Endemic. South Island, eastern from the Awatere River (Marlborough) south to Central Canterbury (Waimakariri and upper Rakaia Rivers).
Habitat
Lowland to montane within inland (intermontane) basins. Usually in grey scrub and associated sparse treeland developed on river terraces or on colluvium, or at the bases of semi-stable alluvial fans. Sometimes found in grey scrub that has developed below semi-stable talus and scree slopes.
Current conservation status
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2022-2023 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Previous assessments can be found here.
- Conservation status of vascular plants in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2023. 2024. Peter J. de Lange, Jane Gosden, Shannel P. Courtney, Alexander J. Fergus, John W. Barkla, Sarah M. Beadel, Paul D. Champion, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Troy Makan and Pascale Michel Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2023 | Not Threatened | Qualifiers: Sp
Threats
Widespread, often sparsely distributed but at times it can be locally common.
Detailed taxonomy
Genus
Family
Synonyms
None
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
October - January
Fruiting
December - March
Life cycle and dispersal
Pappate achenes are dispersed by wind (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Easily grown but resents humidity and water logged soils. Does best in a free draining, fertile soil with a cool root run and plenty of sun. Can be grown from fresh seed and semi-hardwood cuttings.
Other information
Etymology
clematis: From the Greek klema ‘vine’, alluding to the vine-like habit of many species
petriei: Named after Donald Petrie (1846 -1925), Scottish born Otago botanist
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
CLEPET
Chromosome number
2n = 16
Previous conservation statuses
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2022-2023 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Previous assessments can be found here.
- Conservation status of vascular plants in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2023. 2024. Peter J. de Lange, Jane Gosden, Shannel P. Courtney, Alexander J. Fergus, John W. Barkla, Sarah M. Beadel, Paul D. Champion, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Troy Makan and Pascale Michel Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2017 | Not Threatened | Qualifiers: Sp
2012 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: Sp
2009 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon
2004 | Sparse
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Heenan, P.B.; Cartman, J. 2000: Reinstatement of Clematis petriei (Ranunculaceae), and typification and variation of C. forsteri. New Zealand Journal of Botany 38(4): 575-585.
Thorsen, M.J.; Dickinson, K.J.M.; Seddon, P.J. 2009: Seed dispersal systems in the New Zealand flora. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 11: 285-309.
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange (1 August 2003). Description from Heenan & Cartman (2000).