Brachyglottis perdicioides
Common names
raukumara
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Simplified description
Rare small shrub inhabiting coastal scrub of the southern East Cape and Mahia. Leaves 2–5 cm long, pale green, paler underneath, margin roughly toothed and wavy. Flowers daisy-like with a few yellow, radiating petals, in loose clusters.
Flower colours
Yellow
Detailed description
Aromatic shrub 1–2 × 1 m. Trunk stout, bark pale to dark grey, peeling in small stringy flakes or shards. Branchlets numerous, spreading, slender and “twiggy”. Leaf buds resinous and sticky, finely covered in “cobwebbed” hairs. Petioles slender, 10–15 mm long. Leaves (10)–25–50–(70) × (15)–20–(25) mm, oblong to elliptic-oblong, finely crenate-serrate, dark green, to yellow-green with paler undersides, glabrescent with undersides usually covered in sparse “cobb webbed” hairs. Inflorescence a crowded corymb. Captitula (5)–12–20–(30), turbinate, borne on pubescent, somewhat resinous and sticky pedicels. Ray florets 1–3–(5), ligules oblong, yellow, 6–8 mm, apex sometimes bidentate. Phyllaries oblong, pale grey green, with a pubescent midrib, margins scarious. Seed a cypsela, pubescent or glabrescent, 2–2.5 mm, pappus-hairs stiff, 5 mm, finely barbellate.
Similar taxa
Brachyglottis pentacopa, which differs by the more numerous ray-florets (usually 5), and smaller, rounder leaves. However, there is some indication that these species intergrade, with some of the more southerly populations of B. perdicioides very similar to B. pentacopa. Accordingly some botanists informally treat B. pentacopa as a variety or subspecies of B. perdicioides, while others regard it as an absolute synonym. Further research into the matter is required.
Distribution
Endemic. New Zealand: North Island (scattered sites from East Cape (Hicks Bay) to Mahia Peninsula).
Habitat
Coastal shrubland and forest - usually in open ground. Often forming cohorts within scrub.
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 | Threatened – Nationally Critical | Qualifiers: Sp, DPT, RR
Threats
Habitat loss appears to be main threat. However, recruitment appears limitng in some sites, possibly as a consequence of weeds which now often form a permnant ground cover in the places where seedlings would normally germinate. Established plants do not appear to be browsed by livestock, thus mature plants can persist in rough pasture.
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Synonyms
Senecio perdicioides Hook.f., Senecio multinerve Colenso, Senecio distinctus Colenso, Senecio perdicioides var. distinctus (Colenso) Kirk., Brachyglottis perdicioides var. distincta (Colenso) B.Nord., Senecio tripetaloides Colenso
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
(October)–November–April–(May)
Fruiting
(December)–January–April–(May)
Life cycle and dispersal
Pappate achenes are dispersed by wind (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Easy from fresh seed and semi-hardwood cuttings. A very hardy shrub which is tolerant of a wide range of habitats, soils types and moisture regimes.
Other information
Cultivation
Occasionally available from some specialist native plant nurseries.
Etymology
brachyglottis: Name comes from the Greek words brachus meaning “short” and glottis meaning “the vocal apparatus of the larynx”
perdicioides: Like perdicium, a groundsel from Chile
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.
BRAPER
Chromosome number
2n = 60
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 | Threatened – Nationally Critical | Qualifiers: DP, RR, Sp
2012 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: Sp
2009 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: CD
2004 | Gradual Decline
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Allan HH. 1961. Flora of New Zealand, Volume I. Indigenous Tracheophyta: Psilopsida, Lycopsida, Filicopsida, Gymnospermae, Dicotyledones. Government Printer, Wellington, NZ. 1085 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. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ppees.2009.06.001.
Attribution
Fact Sheet Prepared for NZPCN by: P.J. de Lange (4 September 2004). Description adapted 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.
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Brachyglottis perdicioides Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/brachyglottis-perdicioides/ (Date website was queried)