Agrostis petriei
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Grasses
Detailed description
Loosely erect, tussock forming, bluish-green to greyish green clump-forming grass 150–550 mm tall, with slender, involute, finely scabrid leaves.
Similar taxa
Agrostis petriei is readily recognised by its rigid, strictly involute, wiry blue-green to grey-green leaf-blades, which are very obviously, densely scabrid-papillose. Unlike the other indigenous Agrostis taxa, A. petriei favours very dry sites within lowland to subalpine areas. It is usually found on rock outcrops or along river flats within ablation zones or within open stony pavements on river flats.
Distribution
Endemic. South Island from Canterbury to Central Otago.
Habitat
Montane to subalpine on dry stony ground, cliff faces and rock outcrops. Also on river flats and within tussock grassland.
Current conservation status
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2022-2023 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Previous assessments can be found here.
- Conservation status of vascular plants in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2023. 2024. Peter J. de Lange, Jane Gosden, Shannel P. Courtney, Alexander J. Fergus, John W. Barkla, Sarah M. Beadel, Paul D. Champion, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Troy Makan and Pascale Michel Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2023 | Not Threatened | Qualifiers: Sp, DPR, DPS, DPT, De
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Synonyms
Agrostis petriei Hack. var. petriei; Agrostis petriei var. mutica Hack.
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
October–January
Fruiting
December–March
Life cycle and dispersal
Florets are dispersed by wind and water (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Easy from fresh seed and rooted pieces but dislikes humidity and will not flower unless subjected to cold treatment.
Other information
Etymology
agrostis: Greek name for a kind of grass
petriei: Named after Donald Petrie (1846 -1925), Scottish born Otago botanist
Manaaki Whenua Online Interactive Key
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
AGRPET
Chromosome number
2n = 42
Previous conservation statuses
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2022-2023 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Previous assessments can be found here.
- Conservation status of vascular plants in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2023. 2024. Peter J. de Lange, Jane Gosden, Shannel P. Courtney, Alexander J. Fergus, John W. Barkla, Sarah M. Beadel, Paul D. Champion, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Troy Makan and Pascale Michel Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2017 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: DP, Sp
2012 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: DP, Sp
2009 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon
2004 | Not Threatened
Regional conservation statuses
The regional threat classification system leverages off the national assessments in the NZTCS, providing information relevant for the regional context. Otago conservation status information is sourced from the “Regional conservation status of indigenous vascular plants in Otago” Jarvie S et al. (2024) report.
Otago: 2024 | Regionally Data Deficient | Qualifiers: TL
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Edgar E, Connor HE. 2000. Flora of New Zealand. Vol. V. Grasses. Christchurch, Manaaki Whenua Press. 650 p.
Thorsen MJ, Dickinson KJM, Seddon PJ. 2009. Seed dispersal systems in the New Zealand flora. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 11: 285–309.
Attribution
Description modified from Edgar and Connor (2000).
Some of this factsheet information is derived from Flora of New Zealand Online and is used under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand licence.