Bulbinella talbotii
Common name
Talbots onion, Gouland Downs onion
Synonyms
None
Family
Asphodelaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Native
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Monocotyledonous Herbs
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
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 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: DP, RR, Sp
Previous conservation statuses
2009 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: DP, OL
2004 | Range Restricted
Distribution
Endemic. South Island, north-west Nelson, Gouland Downs
Habitat
Montane in boggy ground and fringing pools of water within open shrubland.
Features
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.
Flowering
December - January
Flower colours
Yellow
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.
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.
Etymology
bulbinella: Little bulb
talbotii: Named for Harry Talbot (1898-1982), a plant collector
Where To Buy
Not commercially available.
Attribution
Description modified from Moore and Edgar (1970)
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