Brachyscome radicata
Synonyms
Brachyscome radicata var. polita (Kirk) Allan; Brachyscome radicata var. dubia (Kirk) Allan; Brachyscome odorata Hook.f.; Brachyscome radicata var. radicata Hook.f.; Brachyscome radicata var. thomsonii (Kirk) Allan; Brachyscome radicata var. membranifolia (Kirk) Allan
Family
Asteraceae
Flora category
Vascular – Native
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledonous composites
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.
BRARAD
Chromosome number
2n = 90
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.
2012 | Not Threatened
Previous conservation statuses
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
Brief description
Found in a wide range of habitats this small perennial herb has petiolate, generally bright green leaves with lobed margins. The white and yellow flowers are composite and daisy like.
Distribution
Endemic. New Zealand: North (from the central North Island south), South, Stewart and Campbell Islands
Habitat
The species is found in a wide range of habitats from sea level to high alpine zone. Habitats include coastal herbfield, shrubland, forest margins and clearings, grassland, herbfield, cliffs, banks and river edges.
Features
The species is a perennial rosette or sparingly branched herb. The leaves are spathulate or cuneately narrowed to a winged petiole and obovate to oblong, with betwen 1 and 6, or more commonly 3 to 4 pairs of rounded or sharp teeth or lobes (seldom lyrate-pinnatifid). The leaves are glabrous or sparsely to densely clothed in short or long-stalked glandular hairs on both surfaces and leaf margins. Leaves are between 12mm and 120mm long (more commonly between 12mm and 60mm long), and between 3mm and 20mm wide. The peduncles often have up to 3 leaves along their length, these becoming reduced and scale-like higher up the peduncle. The peduncle is sometimes naked or sparsely to densely clothed in glandular hairs especially near capitulum. Peduncles are between 0.6mm and 2mm diameter and can be between 25mm and 150mm long at flowering, but are more commonly between 50mm and 120mm long. These can extend out to between 150mm and 230mm long at fruiting. The involucral bracts are elliptic-oblong, obtuse to subacute and often fimbriate at their apex, and usually glandular at least near base, but rarely glabrous. The involucral bracts are between 2.5mm and 4 mm long. The numerous ray florets are usually white, rarely flushed with pink or lilac, and are between 5mm and 8mm long. The disc florets are yellow. The achenes are obovoid-oblong in shape, compressed or subterete, glandular, and are between 2.5mm and 4 mm long. The pappus consists of a few bristles between 0.1mm and 0.5 mm long.
(Description adapted from Webb et al. 1988)
Similar taxa
Species in the genus Brachyscome are not well defined and can be hard to distinguish from each other. Brachyscome radicata is most similar to B. sinclairii and B. montana, with some features overlapping with both these two species. It can be distinguished from B. sinclairii by the glandular achenes, the more branched habit, and the leaves which generally have fewer teeth with these being close to the apex of the leaf. B. sinclairii has strongly compressed, eglandular achenes, is less branched and generally has more leaf teeth. B. montana is apparently distinct from both B. radicata and B. sinclairii due to its diversiform, greyish green, glandular hairy and somewhat fleshy leaves, but both B. radicata and B. sinclairii can have glandular hairy leaves, so this is not a good distinguishing trait.
Flowering
October to May, but predominantly from December to March (Webb et al., 1988)
Flower colours
White, Yellow
Life cycle
Pappate cypselae are dispersed by wind (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Easy from rooted pieces and fresh seed. Grows very well in a range of climates but in drought prone areas prefers a shaded site or permanently damp (not saturated) soil. An attractrive and rather variable daisy, which could benefit from some cultivar selection.
Threats
Not Threatened, uncommon in the North Island
Substrate
Many rock types and substrates including peat, alluvium, greywacke, schist, sandstone, and others.
Etymology
brachyscome: From Greek brachys ‘short’ and comus ‘hair’, refers to the lack of papys on the fruit
radicata: Long-rooted
Attribution
Page edited by Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls (29 May 2022)
References and further reading
Hooker, J.D. 1853: The Botany of the Antarctic Voyage of H.M. Discovery Ships Erebus and Terror in the Years 1839–1843, under the command of Captain Sir James Clark Ross. II. Flora Novae-Zelandiae. Part I. Flowering plants. Lovell Reeve, London.
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
Webb, C.J.; Sykes, W.R.; Garnock-Jones, P.J. 1988: Flora of New Zealand. Vol. IV. Naturalised Pteridophytes, Gymnosperms, Dicotyledons. Botany Division DSIR, Christchurch.