''Clematis akebioides'' is a plant that originates in Western China. It is a flowering plant that comes in many different colors. It is mainly greenish yellow in color. It contains certain chemical constituents that are widely used in western medicine. The species usually grows in shrub lands where it uses its stems to provide support for other plants.https://stories.rbge.org.uk/archives/22488 1 November 2020

Distribution

''Clematis akebioides'' is found mainly in Western

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. They are found in

Gansu Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibet ...

, West Nei Mongol,

Qinghai Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is the fourth largest province of China by area and has the third smallest po ...

, West

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

, East to Southeast

Xizang The Tibet Autonomous Region or Xizang Autonomous Region, often shortened to Tibet or Xizang, is a province-level autonomous region of the People's Republic of China in Southwest China. It was overlayed on the traditional Tibetan regions of Ü ...

, and the

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...

providence. It is also found in parts of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

.https://eol.org/pages/2873537/articles 1 November 2020 The plant has been found to be endemic to 7 different geographical regions of China, while other members of the

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' ...

family are only endemic to 4-5 of the geographical regions. These 7 geographical regions are the humid region and temperate zones, the humid and warm temperate region, the humid and subtropical zone, the humid and tropical zone, the temperate grassland region, the temperate and warm deserts and the Qinghai-tibet alpine and cold region.

Habitat and ecology

''Clematis akebioides'' likes to reside in shrublands, grassy slopes, and along streams. They are usually found 1200 to 3600 meters from a stream. The plant has a Perennial life cycle(lasting or existing for long time). It is collected in the Yunnan province where it can grow up to 10 to 15 feet in height. It has interactions with many species of bees. Mainly ''

Bombus A bumblebee (or bumble bee, bumble-bee, or humble-bee) is any of over 250 species in the genus ''Bombus'', part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct related gener ...

friseanus'', ''Bombus richardsi'' and '' Bombus lucorum'' pollinates ''C. akebioides''. The main pollinator being ''Bobus richardsi''. It is also pollinated by various species of butterflies. This species can tolerate partial shade and complete sunlight. It flowers mainly in late summer or early fall and during rainy seasons. https://garden.org/plants/view/142330/Clematis-Clematis-akebioides/ 27 October 2020

Morphology

The plant is greenish yellow in color, but it can sometimes be a tinged purple color. It has a bell-shaped flower with a diameter of roughly 2 inches. The petals of the flower are roughly 2.5 to 7 cm in diameter. The plant produces

nectar Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists ...

at the base of the filament. and has woody vines with shallow, grooved branches. These branches can be puberulous (hairy branches) or subglabrous (not hairy). The leaves of ''C. akebioides'' can have either 1 or 2 pinnates. It also has petioles that are 3 to 7.8 cm in size. Leaflet blades of ''Clematis akebioides'' can be ovate, elliptic or oblong in shape and are 1.2–4 cm by 0.6–3 cm in size, which can range from paper thin to herbaceous. The

anthers The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...

of the plant dehisce from outer to inner. The pedicel of this species can be sparsely puberulous or subglabrous, style is 7–12 mm in size and is villous. The

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

can be 7–12 mm long and be oblong in shape. Both the stamen and ovaries are

pubescent The adjective pubescent may describe: * people or animals undergoing puberty * plants that are hairy, covered in trichomes * insects that are covered in setae In biology, setae (singular seta ; from the Latin word for "bristle") are any of a ...

Reproduction

''Clematis akebioides'' produces a yellow-orange flower which contain 4

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s used to support the leaves. The sepals of ''Clematis akebioides'' is a narrow ovate to ovate-oblong shape. It is roughly 1.6 cm in length and 0.6 cm in width. The stamen is roughly 7–12 mm long. ''C. akebioides'' is an

autogamous Autogamy, or self-fertilization, refers to the fusion of two gametes that come from one individual. Autogamy is predominantly observed in the form of self-pollination, a reproductive mechanism employed by many flowering plants. However, species of ...

plant, it self pollinates. The plant contains both the

pistil Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...

and the stamen. The plant can change between self pollinating and facilitate pollinating on different linages. ''C. akebioides'' is also a protogynous plant, meaning the female reproductive organ matures before the male reproductive organ. In addition to self pollinating, ''C. akebioides'' also gets pollinated by bumblebees. By combining the both self pollination and bumblebee pollination, ''C. akebioides'' has a very high pollination success rate''.''

Chemical properties

''Clematis akebioides'' contains a 3 different types compounds. These compounds are 2 benzenoids, 1 monoterpene glycoside and 15 triterpenoid saponins. This is the second report of the monoterpene glycoside. Scientists believe that this compound can be used to distinguish the genus Clematis. Furthermore, these 3 different compounds are found in solely in ''Clematis akebioides'', this can help scientist distinguish ''C. akebioides'' from other species in its genus. The isolated chemicals can also provide new chemical markers on the genus ''Clematis'' as a whole. The two benzenoids isolated in the ''C. akebioides'' chemical makeup are the first benzenoids to be discovered in the Ranunculaceae family. They were found in the aerial part of the plant. The chemicals in the aboveground plant parts of ''C. akebioides'' were only recently isolated in a 2019 study. The newfound information is said to allow evidence for future chemotaxonomic studies of the plant.

Usage

''Clematis akebioides'' has many medicinal uses. The plant is used in Western China to treat

dysuria Dysuria refers to painful or uncomfortable urination. It is one of a constellation of ''irritative'' bladder symptoms (also sometimes referred to as lower urinary tract symptoms), which includes nocturia and urinary frequency. Diagnosis The clin ...

Rheumatoid arthritis Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a long-term autoimmune disorder that primarily affects joints. It typically results in warm, swollen, and painful joints. Pain and stiffness often worsen following rest. Most commonly, the wrist and hands are involv ...

, wind chills,

indigestion Indigestion, also known as dyspepsia or upset stomach, is a condition of impaired digestion. Symptoms may include upper abdominal fullness, heartburn, nausea, belching, or upper abdominal pain. People may also experience feeling full earlier t ...

, pain, infection and to improve blood circulation. It is used by the many groups of people in China including: Bai, Jingpo,

Lisu Lisu may refer to: *Lisu people, an ethnic group of Southeast Asia *Lisu language, spoken by the Lisu people * Old Lisu Alphabet or Fraser Alphabet *Lisu syllabary *Lisu (Unicode block), the block of Unicode characters for the Lisu language. *Lisu ...

Tibetan Tibetan may mean: * of, from, or related to Tibet * Tibetan people, an ethnic group * Tibetan language: ** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard ** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dial ...

, and other Asian minorities groups. The ''Clematis'' genus has been used in Western China in traditional medicine since the beginning of Chinese civilization. Most of the Clematis species all share similar chemical constituents that serve the same function.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15249079 akebioides Flora of Canada Flora of Inner Mongolia Flora of Tibet Flora of Gansu Flora of Qinghai Flora of Sichuan Flora of Yunnan