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Clematis microphylla or Small-leaved Clematis is a variable, attractive climbing vine quite common in drier forest and coastal scrub, capable of scrambling up to 5 m or more through adjacent plants. It adapts well to gardens with white starry male and female flowers appearing on separate plants in late winter and spring followed by a mass of fluffy seeds (which gives it another name, old man’s beard, though this can refer to a few different plants).

The Small-leaved Clematis is found throughout SE Australia while the genus is found all over the world. Clematis comes from the Greek word klema, meaning “vine branch” which reflects the climbing habit typical of clematis species, while microphylla is Latin for “small leaves” (micro meaning “small” and phylla meaning “leaf”).

Small-leaved Clematis has a number of uses and including as a remedy for headaches, colds, and other ailments. Its leaves and stems, when crushed, release an aromatic scent that is believed to help relieve symptoms. Sometimes, inhaling the scent of crushed leaves can help clear sinuses and ease respiratory issues.

You can buy Clematis from the Shrub Club Community Nursery or if you’d like to learn more about local native plants SOLN (Southern Otway Landcare Network) runs a weekly plant walk over the summer usually leaving from the office at 69 Nelson St at 2:30pm each Tuesday.

Zantedeschia aethiopica or Arum Lily is a noxious environmental weed growing to about 1m tall that is native to Southern Africa but has been spread all over the world. It can be both perennial or annual depending on rainfall and is often found along waterways where it forms dense clumps. Although pretty it can be spread by birds and other animals though its fruit or underground through its rhizome and can totally take over large areas choking out all native vegetation. The white flowers are actually bracts (more like a leaf) and the yellow stem inside the flower is a “spadix” a type of inflorescence having small flowers borne on a fleshy stem. The genus name originates from Italian botanist Giovanni Zantedeschi while the species epithet aethiopica refers to “Ethiopian” or, more broadly in historical terms, “African.” Though the plant is toxic if ingested raw, its processed forms were sometimes applied externally or boiled for medicinal treatments by indigenous African communities. If you have Arum lilies on your property, please remove them or get in touch with your local Landcare group to get help. If you see it in the bush or elsewhere, please pull it out and/or record it on iNaturalist so we know where to find it. If you’d like to replace it with something similar, the Shrub Club Community Nursery has great plants like Dianella or Patersonia which are similar or if you’d like to learn more about local native plants SOLN (Southern Otway Landcare Network) runs a monthly plant walk over the winter season usually leaving from the office at 69 Nelson St at 2:30pm on the first Tuesday.