Brachyglottis bidwillii
Biostatus
Native
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Simplified description
Leathery shrub forming extensive groves in subalpine areas. Leaves thick leathery, oval, dark green and with whiteish-tan down underneath. Flowers small, clustered at tips of branches, quickly becoming dry and papery. Old flower heads remain until next flowering season.
Detailed description
Compactly branched shrub up to 1.5 m. tall. Branches stout (slender in South Island); branchlets, petioles and inflorescence-branchlets clad in dense appressed soft white to buff tomentum. Leaves elliptic to obovate-oblong, very coriaceous, 2-7.5 × 1-2.5 cm., on stout petioles falling to leave prominent leaf-bases, glabrous and shining above, clad in dense appressed soft tomentum below, midrib and veins not prominent below. Panicles subcorymbose, up to 5 cm. diameter; capitula discoid, campanulate, up to 1.5 cm. diameter; phyllaries narrow-oblong, coriaceous, subacute, tomentose on back. Pistillate flowers 3-5; disk-florets numerous, deeply 5-lobed. Achenes linear-oblong, 3 mm. long, ribbed, glabrous; pappus-hairs stiff, white, up to 5 mm. long, barbellate.
Distribution
Endemic. North and South Islands - from Mount Hikurangi south
Habitat
Montane to subalpine scrub and fellfield
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.
Please note, threat classifications are often suggested by authors when publications fall between NZTCS assessment periods – these interim threat classification statuses has not been assessed by the NZTCS panel.
- 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
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Asteraceae
Synonyms
Senecio bidwillii Hook.f., Senecio bidwillii Hook.f. var. bidwillii, Senecio viridis Kirk nom. illegit., Senecio bidwillii var. viridis (Kirk) Cheeseman
Taxonomic notes
The South Island specimens formally known as Brachyglottis bidwillii var. viridis are generally larger in leaf size and stature than the North Island populations.
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
December - March
Fruiting
February – April
Life cycle
Pappate achenes are dispersed by wind (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Other information
Etymology
brachyglottis: Name comes from the Greek words brachus meaning “short” and glottis meaning “the vocal apparatus of the larynx”
bidwillii: Named after the botanist - John Carne Bidwill (born 1815 and died 16 March 1853)
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.
BRABID
Chromosome number
2n = 60
Previous conservation statuses
2017 | Not Threatened
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Allan, H. H. 1961 Flora of New Zealand. Volume I. Wellington, N. Z. pg. 756
Thorsen, M. J.; Dickinson, K. J. M.; Seddon, P. J. 2009. Seed dispersal systems in the New Zealand flora. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 2009 Vol. 11 No. 4 pp. 285-309
Attribution
Description adapted by M. Ward from Allan (1961).
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.