Brachyglottis kirkii var. angustior
Common names
kohurangi, Kirk’s tree daisy
Biostatus
Native
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Simplified description
Fleshy small green shrub bearing large white daisy-like flowers. Twigs reddish-purple, brittle, with old leaf scars. Leaves narrow, shiny, fleshy, margin wavy. Flowers with long white radiating petals around a yellow centre, clustered together.
Flower colours
White, Yellow
Detailed description
Shrub up to 3 m tall. Branches brittle. Leaves 50-120 x 10-20 mm, lanceolate- to narrow-oblong, entire to shallowly sinuate. Corymbs up to 300 mm diameter or more, lower bracts foliaceous; capitula campanulate, up to 50 mm diameter; phyllaries narrow-oblong, acute, membranous on margins. Ray-florets 2, with white spreading ligules 20-30 mm long. Achenes linear, approximately 6 mm long, finely grooved; pappus-hairs stiff, up to 9 mm long, minutely barbellate.
Similar taxa
Very similar to Brachyglottis kirkii var. kirkii which generally grows as an epiphyte; has a greater range geographically (locally found throughout North island); has shorter and wider leaves (40-100 x 20-40 mm) which are obviously toothed along margin; and generally, flowers later in the year (August-October).
Distribution
Endemic. Confined to the North Island where it is known from about Te Puke and Ngaruawahia north to Te Paki
Habitat
Forest floor.
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 kirkii var. angustior Allan, Urostemon kirkii var. angustior (Allan) B.Nord.
Taxonomic notes
Newhook (1943) drew attention to the existence of two forms but provided no formal description or varietal name. He pointed out that the narrow-leaved form is the only one known north of Kaitaia, that it is usually terrestrial, and that it flowers in autumn and early winter whereas the broad-leaved form in the same latitudes flowers in spring and summer. He suggested occasional hybridism between the two varieties.
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
(January-) March - June
Fruiting
(February-) April - August
Life cycle and dispersal
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”
kirkii: After Thomas Kirk (18 January 1828 - 8 March 1898), a NZ botanist and lecturer in natural sciences and regarded as a leader of botanical enquiry in NZ for over three decades. One of his most significant publications was Forest flora of NZ (1889) but he also contributed over 130 papers to the Transactions and Proceedings of the NZ Institute and other journals.
angustior: From the Latin word angustare meaning “to make narrow, confine”.
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.
BRAKVA
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. Vol. 1. Wellington: Government Printer. pg. 748.
Newhook, F. J. 1942. 3. Variation in Senecio kirkii Hook. f. In Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand (Vol. 72, pp. 341-346).
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.