Carmichaelia muritai
Common names
Coastal tree broom
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Simplified description
Rare small tree with many erect brownish leafless twigs inhabiting the coastal Kaikoura area. Twigs oval in cross section, smooth, lower twigs drooping. Flowers small, pea-like, pink with darker centre, clustered into conspicuous long spikes. Fruit a small dry pod containing 1-2 hard yellowish seeds.
Flower colours
Violet/Purple, White
Detailed description
Leafless tree 5-6 m tall. Trunk, stout up to 250 mm diam. Branches numerous, grey-brown, uppermost erect, lower drooping. Bark smooth with raised rings at nodes. Branches compact, striate, deeply grooved, flat to round, 3.5 mm wide, grey-green maturing yellow-green, densely hairy, bearing stipules at emergent shoots. Leaves reduced to scales on mature shoots. Inflorescences lateral, erect, racemes up to 70 mm; solitary or in groups on flowering shoots arising at nodes. Flowers 4 x 4 mm. Peduncles hairy, 0.8 mm long; pedicels 1 mm, hairy. Calyx rim and outer tube hairy. Petals white with purple-violet markings toward standard and keel; veins of petals violet; standard suborbicular, longer than wings, margins reflexed; wings dolabriform, obtuse. Fruit a stramineous upturned, obliquely obovate 3.5 x 1.8 mm, greyish-white, pod. Seeds 1(-2) per pod, yellow-green, reniform, 1.5 x 1 mm.
Similar taxa
Allied to C. stevensonii (Cheeseman) Heenan from which it differs by its erect upper branchlets and racemes. It is also a smaller tree with brownish-grey branches; C. stevensonii grows up to 15 m tall and has yellowish-green branches. The flowers of C. muritai are smaller (4 x 4 cf. 8 x 6 mm), and whitish rather than lavender, while the pods, which usually bear 1(-2) rather than 1-3 seeds, are 3.5 x 1.8 rather than 2.5 x 2 mm.
Distribution
Endemic. South Island, Marlborough, vicinity of Clifford Bay
Habitat
Deeply eroded coastal cliffs on coarse, free draining gravel and loess, colluvial fans below cliffs.
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 | Threatened – Nationally Endangered | Qualifiers: CI, CD, DPT, RR
Threats
Only two small natural populations are known. One is seriously threatened by goats, summer drought, coastal erosion and weeds. The other though thriving is vulnerable to fire. All parts of C. muritai, though the seedlings especially, are highly sought after by browsing animals such as possums, goats, sheep, rabbits and hares.
Detailed taxonomy
Genus
Family
Synonyms
Chordospartium muritai A.W.Purdie
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
December – January
Fruiting
Present throughout the year
Life cycle and dispersal
Seeds are possibly dispersed by wind and granivory (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Easy from fresh seed. The hard seed coat should be chipped or sanded to expose the endosperm, this action greatly increases the chances of germination success. It can be grown from hard wood cuttings but these are difficult to strike. Best planted in a free draining, fertile soil in a sunny, sheltered position. Although it does well in exposed sites, better results seem to be obtained from specimens planted next to a wall or with some shelter from strong winds. Once planted this species does not transplant well, and it resents any form of root disturbance. Like many native brooms that have evolved in the drier eastern South Island, this species does not thrive in humid climates.
Other information
Cultivation
Occasionally available from retail and specialist native plant nurseries.
Plant of the Month
This plant has been featured as a Plant of the Month – see Trilepidea: NZPCN newsletter for July 2012 for the full story.
Etymology
carmichaelia: After Carmichael, a 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.
CARMUR
Chromosome number
2n = 32
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 | Threatened – Nationally Endangered | Qualifiers: CD, RF, RR
2012 | Threatened – Nationally Endangered | Qualifiers: CD, RF, RR
2009 | Threatened – Nationally Endangered | Qualifiers: CD, RF, RR
2004 | Threatened – Nationally Critical
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
de Lange, P.J.; Heenan, P.B.; Norton, D.A.; Rolfe, J.R.; Sawyer, J.W.D. 2010: Threatened Plants of New Zealand. Christchurch, Canterbury University Press. 471pp.
Purdie, A.W. 1985: Chordospartium muritai (Papilionaceae) a rare new species of New Zealand tree broom. New Zealand Journal of Botany 23: 157-161
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 for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange 1 October 2003. Description adapted from Purdie (1985) - see also de Lange et al. (2010).
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Carmichaelia muritai Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/carmichaelia-muritai/ (Date website was queried)