''Clematis hedysarifolia'' is a

liana A liana is a long- stemmed, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy in search of direct sunlight. The word ''liana'' does not refer to a ta ...

, endemic to peninsular India, belonging to the

buttercup ''Ranunculus'' is a large genus of about almost 1700 to more than 1800 species of flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae. Members of the genus are known as buttercups, spearworts and water crowfoots. The genus is distributed in Europe, ...

family (

Ranunculaceae Ranunculaceae (buttercup or crowfoot family; Latin "little frog", from "frog") is a family of over 2,000 known species of flowering plants in 43 genera, distributed worldwide. The largest genera are ''Ranunculus'' (600 species), ''Delphinium' ...

). It was described by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle and published in ''Regni Vegetabilis Systema Naturale'' 1: 148, in 1817.

Description

It is a woody evergreen climber, with the following features: * Branches - ribbed, roundish, thinly sprinkled with very fine soft hairs when young. * Leaves - pinnate or bipinnate, opposite, in pairs alternately perpendicular, with wide intervals between the pairs, with 3 leaflets. **Petiole : purplish, slightly hairy, up to 9 cm long, sometimes twining. **Leaflets : leathery, green, glabrous, stalked, entire, ovate lanceolate, with acuminate apex, base rounded or cordate, strongly reticulate, . * Inflorescence - Flower panicles are arise in leaf axils and at the end of branches, pendulous, many-flowered, branchlets stiff, decussately opposite and wide apart. Flower stalks are slender, hairy, bearing two small opposite abortive buds below their middle. Flowers are white, furred on the outside, about 1.6 cm across. ** Flowers - yellowish-green to white, furred on the outside, about 1.6 cm across. ** Sepals - 4, ovate, ovate-oblong, externally tomentose ** Petals - 4, ovally oblong, equal, blunt, cruciately rotate. ** Stamens - cream-coloured, upright, about 1/4 shorter than the petals, many, smooth. ** Anthers - Compressed, threadlike filaments. Anthers of same color, linearly oblong, upright with a short obtuse point and a flattish receptacle. ** Pistils - longer than the stamens, greenish. * Fruit/Seeds - Achenes compressed, broadly elliptic or ovate, hairy, 5mm × 3mm. Easily distinguished from the common

Clematis gouriana ''Clematis gouriana'', or Indian Traveller's Joy, is a liana found in Asia which belongs to the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae). It was described by Roxb. ex DC. and published in ''Regni Vegetabilis Systema Naturale'' 1: 138-139, in 1818. Dis ...

, by the larger flowers and aristate (pointed) anthers. File:Bendrichi_Vel_(Konkani-_%E0%A4%AC%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%82%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%80%E0%A4%9A%E0%A5%80_%E0%A4%B5%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%B2)_(5155235250).jpg, Flower File:Clematis_hedysarifolia_(5154624849).jpg, Flower pannicle File:Clematis_hedysarifolia_DC._(6226156668).jpg, Tendrils, leaf stalk with buds

Distribution

The species is endemic to India, and found in forests of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, and Karnataka states. The creeper occurs in moist deciduous forests between the altitudes of 500–1500 m. Flowering is October–November, and fruiting is in December.

References

External links

* hedysarifolia Plants described in 1817 {{ranunculales-stub