Brachyglottis kirkii var. kirkii
Common name
Kohurangi, Kirk’s daisy, oro
Synonyms
Senecio kirkii var kirkii Hook.f ex Kirk; Urostemon kirkii var. kirkii (Kirk) B.Nord., Senecio neo-zeylandicus Druce, Senecio glastifolius Hook.f. nom. illegit.
Family
Asteraceae
Flora category
Vascular – Native
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
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.
BRAKVK
Chromosome number
2n = 60
Current conservation status
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2017 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS). This report includes a statistical summary and brief notes on changes since 2012 and replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Authors: By Peter J. de Lange, Jeremy R. Rolfe, John W. Barkla, Shannel P. Courtney, Paul D. Champion, Leon R. Perrie, Sarah M. Beadel, Kerry A. Ford, Ilse Breitwieser, Ines Schönberger, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Peter B. Heenan and Kate Ladley.
2018 | Threatened – Nationally Vulnerable
Previous conservation statuses
2012 | At Risk – Declining | Qualifiers: DP
2009 | At Risk – Declining | Qualifiers: DP
2004 | Serious Decline
Brief description
Fleshy small green usually epiphytic shrub bearing large white daisy-like flowers. Twigs reddish-purple, brittle, with old leaf scars. Leaves, shiny, fleshy, with a few large lobes on margin. Flowers with long white radiating petals around a yellow centre, clustered together.
Distribution
Endemic to the North Island. Locally scattered throughout.
Habitat
An epiphyte of lowland to lower montane forest, sometimes terrestrial.
Features
A spring flowering, usually epiphytic shrub to 1.5 m tall with purple stems and grey bark developed on old wood. Leaves 40 to 100 by 20 to 40 mm, fleshy, variable in shape, usually toothed in upper third, hairless, upper surface pale to dark green, often tinged maroon, undersides paler. Flowers 30 by 40 mm diameter, borne in dense inflorescences of 3 to 20 flowers, the individual daisy-like flowers have white petals (rays). Fruits dry, windborne, dandelion structures.
Similar taxa
A very distinctive species. However, because it is usually epiphytic and so often well out of reach, plants could be confused with the epiphytic Pittosporum kirkii and P. cornifolium. These pittosporums have leathery leaves, non-daisy like flowers and round fruits which split to reveal hard black seeds embedded within sticky gum.
Flowering
August to October
Flower colours
White, Yellow
Fruiting
October to December
Propagation technique
Easily grown from fresh seed and semi hardwood cuttings but, as a rule, difficult to maintain in cultivation.
Threats
This plant is intolerant of browse and targeted by possums, goats and deer.
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.
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared by P.J. de Lange for NZPCN (1 June 2013)
References and further reading
Variation in Senecio kirkii Hook.f. by F.J. Newhook (Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 72, 1942-43)
Citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Brachyglottis kirkii var. kirkii Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/brachyglottis-kirkii-var-kirkii/ (Date website was queried)