The complete chloroplast genome of Clematis florida Thunb. (Ranunculaceae), an ornamental and medicinal plant from Henan province, China

Clematis florida Thunb. is a herbaceous and perennial plant native to East Asia. The plant is resistant to cold but sensitive to heat. It is an ornamental and medicinal plant that has great commercial potential. Here, we assembled and characterized the complete chloroplast (cp) genome of C. florida. The cp genome of C. florida was characterized by Illumina pair-end sequencing and is 159,606 bp in total length. The genome includes a large single-copy (LSC) region of 79,467 bp, a small single-copy (SSC) region of 18,057 bp, and a pair of inverted repeats (IR) regions of 31,041 bp. The genome contains 135 genes including 91 protein-coding, 36 tRNA, and eight rRNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis based on 18 Clematis species indicates that C. florida is closely related to C. fusca in the Ranunculaceae. The phylogenetic relationships and taxonomic status of C. florida revealed by cp genome were consistent with the previous molecular studies, and can serve as a reference for future studies on molecular biology, evolution, and taxonomy in the genus Clematis.