Bulbinella talbotii
Common names
Talbot’s onion, Gouland Downs onion
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Monocots
Flower colours
Yellow
Detailed description
Stout, fleshy, bisexual plant, scarcely rising above ground; leaves widely spreading, up to 100-400 mm. Leaves 3-7 mm wide, more or less horizontally spreading. Peduncle very short, scarcely evident from with leaf-sheaths, rarely exceeding raceme-length. Raceme at flowering 10-25 × 15 mm, elongating little at fruit; fruit densely crowded; bracts about equal in length to pedicels, with broad, pale, membranous, sheathing at base, covering young buds but in fruit almost hidden; pedicels short, widely spreading, scarcely visible. Flowers deep yellow to sulphur yellow except for the abaxial nerve of each tepal green; perianth 7-11 mm diameter, shrivelled and tangled at base of ripe capsules. Stamens 6, widely spreading. Ovary and capsule stipitate, the capsule globose above the gynophore, 3.5-6.5 mm diameter. Seeds 3.5 mm long, brown, smooth, rounded without wings
Similar taxa
Distinguished from all but B. modesta L.B.Moore by its narrow leaves (up to 10 mm wide), shortly pedunculate racemes which are virtually hidden amongst the foliage, and by the globose capsules, and seeds which are a little longer than wide, brown and without wings. From B. modesta it differs by the peduncles which are mostly hidden by the leaf sheaths, with the visible portion < raceme, and by the flowers which are densely crowded rather than openly and rather laxly arranged.
Distribution
Endemic. South Island, north-west Nelson, Gouland Downs
Habitat
Montane in boggy ground and fringing pools of water within open shrubland.
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, Sp
Threats
Not Threatened. However listed because it is a geographically restricted, narrow-range endemic. It is not very well known and it may be threatened to some extent by pigs and other browsing animals.
Detailed taxonomy
Genus
Family
Synonyms
None
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
December - January
Fruiting
December - February
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
Plant of the Month
This plant has been featured as a Plant of the Month – see Trilepidea: NZPCN newsletter for January 2017 for the full story.
Etymology
bulbinella: Little bulb
talbotii: Named for Harry Talbot (1898-1982), a plant collector
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.
BULTAL
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: DP, RR, Sp
2012 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: DP, RR, Sp
2009 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: DP, OL
2004 | Range Restricted
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Moore, L.B.; Edgar, E. 1970: Flora of New Zealand. Vol. I. Government Printer, Wellington. 354pp.
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 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.