The flowering plants of South Africa; vol. 3

A MAGAZINE CONTAINING HAND-COLOURED FIGURES WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF THE FLOWERING PLANTS INDIGENOUS TO SOUTH AFRICA. EDITED BY I. B. POLE EVANS, C.M.G., M.A., D.Sc., F.L.S., Chief, Division of Botany and Plant Pathology, Department of Agriculture, Pretoria; and Director of the Botanical Survey of the Union of South Africa. VOL. III.
The veld which lies so desolate and bare Will blossom into cities white and fair, And pinnacles will pierce the desert air, And sparkle in the sun. R. C. Macfie’s “Ex Unitate Vires.”
Division of Botany, Pretoria, August, 1923 .

Transvaal. Tropical Africa.
Ranunculaceae. Tribe Clematideae. Clematopsis, Bojer MS. ex Hutchinson in Kew Bulletin , 1920, p. 12.
Clematopsis Stanleyi , Hutchinson in Kew Bulletin , 1920, p. 21. Clematis Stanleyi, Harv. in Harv. and Sond. Fl. Cap. , vol. i. p. 2.
In the Botanical Magazine (t. 7166) 1891, an excellent figure of this species was given with some critical notes by Sir Joseph Hooker on the taxonomic affinities of the species, and recently (Kew Bulletin, 1920) Mr. J. Hutchinson dealt more fully with the group represented by our plant. He has established Bojer’s MS. name Clematopsis , under which he describes 15 species of which only C. Stanleyi occurs within our limits. The separation of Clematopsis from Clematis is based on the aestivation of the sepals and for a full account of these differences the reader is referred to Mr. Hutchinson’s article. The chief interest in the genus is the fact that it forms a connecting link between the tribes Anemoneae and Clematideae , which were hitherto supposed to be sharply demarcated. It is confined to the ancient plateau of Africa and its continuation in Madagascar.
Clematopsis Stanleyi is a fairly common plant in parts of the Transvaal and has been recorded from the Pretoria, Witwatersrand, Waterberg, Middleburg Districts, and it extends into Rhodesia and Angola. In habit it is a small shrub 18 inches to 2 feet high and when in full bloom is a very pleasing object and well worth the attention of horticulturists. When in fruit the beauty of the plant is not entirely lost as the long white plumose styles stand out in sharp contrast to the surrounding vegetation.