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  4. Bulbinella gibbsii var. gibbsii

Bulbinella gibbsii var. gibbsii

Mt Rakeahua, Rakiura National Park, 680 m asl.<br>Photographer: Jesse Bythell, Date taken: 02/01/2020, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Mount Rakeahua, Rakiura National Park, 680 m asl.<br>Photographer: Jesse Bythell, Date taken: 02/01/2020, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Mt Rakiahura, Stewart Island.<br>Photographer: Mike Thorsen, Licence: All rights reserved.
Mt Rakiahura, Stewart Island.<br>Photographer: Mike Thorsen, Licence: All rights reserved. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
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Common names

Gibbs’s Māori onion, Gibbs’s lily, Gibbs’s onion

Biostatus

Native – Endemic taxon

Category

Vascular

Structural class

Herbs - Monocots

Flower colours

Yellow

Detailed description

Subdioecious, diminutive, summer green, fleshy, lily up to 300 mm tall. Leaves up to 30 mm wide, strap-like, reddish green to dark green, fleshy. Peduncle mostly shorter than raceme. Raceme mostly conical (rarely cylindric), the axis visible between flowers. Pedicels 10–20 mm long, swollen below flower, elongating slightly after anthesis. Bracts long-acuminate, notably longer than pedicel in flowering and fruiting material. Flowers 10–14 mm diameter, dark yellow, numerous, densely crowded; tepals patent, becoming erect and hardening as fruit matures. Stamens 6, < tepals; anthers mostly well filled with pollen. Ovary not stipitate. Capsules broad-ovoid. Seeds dark and narrowly winged.

Similar taxa

Allied to Bulbinella rossii (Hook.f.) Cheeseman which is a much more robust species (up to 1 m tall) endemic to the Auckland Islands and Campbell Island/Motu Ihupuku. Bulbinella rossii has consistently cylindrical racemes. The axis is very stout and more or less obscured by the densely crowded, distinctly dioecious flowers. The stigma is prominently capitate. Bulbinella gibbsii var. balanifera L.B.Moore is a larger plant than var. gibbsii with longer peduncles and pedicels. The pedicels greatly exceed the subtending bracts. The ovary and capsules are barrel-shaped rather than broadly ovoid, with bases that only gradually narrow and which are scarcely stipitate. Bulbinella gibbsii var. balanifera is found in the North Island and South Island but not on Stewart Island/Rakiura.

Distribution

Endemic. Stewart Island/Rakiura.

Habitat

Coastal to alpine (mainly alpine) in damp ground, in cushion bogs and seepages, sometimes fringing ponds and small ephemeral pools.

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 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: RR

Jump to previous conservation statuses

Threats

No apparent threats. Listed because it occupies a small geograpgic area.

Detailed taxonomy

Family

Asphodelaceae

Authority

Bulbinella gibbsii Cockayne var. gibbsii

Synonyms

None

Endemic taxon

Yes

Endemic genus

No

Endemic family

No

Ecology

Flowering

January–February

Fruiting

February–March

Propagation technique

Difficult–should not be removed from the wild. Has been cultivated with limited success in the more southerly parts of the country.

Wetland plant indicator status rating

Information derived from the revised national wetland plant list prepared to assist councils in delineating and monitoring wetlands (Clarkson et al., 2021 Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research Contract Report LC3975 for Hawke’s Bay Regional Council). The national plant list categorises plants by the extent to which they are found in wetlands and not ‘drylands’. The indicator status ratings are OBL (obligate wetland), FACW (facultative wetland), FAC (facultative), FACU (facultative upland), and UPL (obligate upland). If you have suggestions for the Wetland Indicator Status Rating, please contact: [Enable JavaScript to view protected content]

FACW: Facultative Wetland

Usually is a hydrophyte but occasionally found in uplands (non-wetlands).

Other information

Etymology

bulbinella: Little bulb

gibbsii: Named in honor of Frederick G Gibbs (1866-1953)

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.

BULGVG

Chromosome number

2n = 14

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 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: RR

2012 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon

2009 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon

2004 | Range Restricted

Jump to current conservation status

Referencing and citations

References and further reading

Moore LB, Edgar E. 1970. Flora of New Zealand, Volume II. Indigenous Tracheophyta: Monocotyledones except Gramineae. Government Printer, Wellington, NZ. 354 p.

Attribution

Description modified from Moore and Edgar (1970).

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.

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