Clematis.

About this crooked manuka's Impoverished, unlovely form,
She wreathed her gleaming loveliness
To hide the ravages of storm
And time. The bowed limbs spoke to her
Of high endeavour, battles fought
And lost; of dreams unrealised;
Of struggling life so dearly bought.
So, with her green luxuriance
She gently veiled the cruel scars,
And on the drooping, once-bright head
She laid a wondrous crown of stars.

—G. Evelyn Preston.

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