Callitriche petriei
Common names
Petrie’s starwort
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
Detailed description
Diminutive, dioecious to subdioecious, widely creeping perennial with weakly ascending to erect branches 30-100 mm long. Leaves 1.1-5 mm long, bright green to yellow green, spathulate to orbicular, the larger leaves often with short side veins arising from the midrib, and with two lateral veins. Flowers solitary, alternate on either side of stem, ebracteate. Fruit an more or less elliptic mericarp, laterally compressed, 0.6-0.7 x 0.7-0.9 mm, dull grey-brown or orange-yellow, lobes not rounded, keeled or winged.
Similar taxa
Differs from C. chathamensis by its dioecious rather than monoecious habit, smaller leaves (1.1-5 cf 2.5-8 mm), smaller fruit ( 0.6-0.7 x 0.7-0.9 cf. 0.6-0.9 x 0.7-1.1 mm), and restriction to the North and South Islands of New Zealand.
Distribution
Endemic. North and South Islands. Scarce north of Auckland.
Habitat
Coastal to alpine in damp muddy ground, lake, pond and tarn turf, in damp temporary pools, puddles and soaks within forest and scrub. Sometimes found permanently submerged.
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 | Not Threatened
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Synonyms
None
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
November - January
Fruiting
January - February
Life cycle and dispersal
Mericarps possibly by water and attachment (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Easily grown from rooted pieces and fresh seed, A delicate plant that is unlikely to be widely cultivated.
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]
OBL: Obligate Wetland
Almost always is a hydrophyte, rarely in uplands (non-wetlands).
Other information
Etymology
callitriche: From the Greek kalli ‘beautiful’ and thrix ‘hair’, referring to the beautiful stems
petriei: Named after Donald Petrie (1846 -1925), Scottish born Otago botanist
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.
CALPET
Chromosome number
2n = 20
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 | Not Threatened
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
Regional conservation statuses
The regional threat classification system leverages off the national assessments in the NZTCS, providing information relevant for the regional context. Otago conservation status information is sourced from the “Regional conservation status of indigenous vascular plants in Otago” Jarvie S et al. (2024) report.
Otago: 2024 | Regionally Not Threatened
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
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
Fact sheet prepared by P.J. de Lange for NZPCN (1 June 2013)
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Callitriche petriei Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/callitriche-petriei/ (Date website was queried)