Clematis aristata, known as Australian Clematis , Wild clematis, Goat's beard or Old man's beard, is a climbing shrub of the Ranunculaceae family, found in eastern Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 in dry and wet forests of Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

, New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

 and Tasmania

Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

. It has attractive star shaped flowers with four narrow tepal

Tepal

Tepals are elements of the perianth, or outer part of a flower, which include the petals or sepals. The term tepal is more often applied specifically when all segments of the perianth are of similar shape and color, or undifferentiated, which is called perigone...

s of pure white or cream colour up to 70mm across and which can cover shrubs with cascades of blossom in spring and early summer.

The seed borne on the female plants are the typical fluffy seed-heads characteristic of many Clematis species.
There are separate male and female plants both of which are vigorous leaf climbers with stems that coil round branches and twigs of other plants and themselves and bear flowers which are superficially similar. The leaves are trifoliate with mature leaflets up to 75 mm long.

There are three known varieties:

var.blanda - with small flowers and twice-divided leaflets which is found from Victoria to Tasmania

var.dennisae - with red filaments in the flowers and found in eastern Victoria

var.longiseta - with yellowish hairy flowers found in Queensland

Cultivation

C.aristata is a popular hardy garden plant. It prefers a semi shaded or shaded position and likes cool deep soils and will withstand heavy pruning. It is vigorous and may become a problem by smothering other plants.

Propagation can be carried out from fresh seed and from cuttings.