Celmisia brevifolia
Common names
common shrub mountain daisy
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledonous composites
Flower colours
White, Yellow
Detailed description
Sprawling subshrub forming loose clumps up to c.0.8 m diameter; stems and branches stout, woody, clad in long-persistent leaf-remnants; branchlets rather stout, clad in imbricate, suberect, finally ± reflexed leaves. Lamina coriaceous, 10-20 × 6-9 mm, oblong to obovate-oblong; upper surface viscid, at first clad in thin pellicle, or pellicle long enduring; lower surface clad in subappressed soft white or almost satiny tomentum, midrib evident or obscured; apex obtuse, margins remotely and minutely toothed to subentire, very slightly recurved; base abruptly narrowed to sheath or very short petiole. Sheath very thin, glabrous, ± translucent, up to 10 mm long, closely appressed to branchlet. Scape slender, viscid, ± 40-80 mm long, erect; bracts few, lamina linear, up to c. 10 mm. long. Capitula 20-30 mm diameter; involucral bracts narrow-linear to narrow linear-spathulate, c.8 mm long, ± densely clad in floccose hairs on margins and towards apex, midrib evident. Ray-florets narrow-spathulate to linear, tube ± glandular, limb-apex 3-4-toothed, margins recurved when dry. Disk-florets 5-6 mm long, narrowly funnelform, teeth triangular. Achenes 2-3 mm long, compressed-cylindric, ribs rather densely clad in short ascending hairs. Pappus-hairs slender, white to sordid-white, up to c.5 mm long, very finely barbellate.
Similar taxa
One of a small group of celmisias that are readily recognised by their stout, woody, subshrub growth habit with leaves that overlap but never form rosulate tufts at the stem apices. From C. gibbsii and C. rupestris it is distinguished by the oblong rather than linear or lanceolate leaves which are 6-9 mm rather than up to 5 mm wide, and which have rounded rather than narrowly obtuse, acute or acuminate apices
Distribution
Endemic. South Island: Throughout.
Habitat
Montane to subalpine. Widespread in open grassland, rocky places and fellfield.
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.
Please note, threat classifications are often suggested by authors when publications fall between NZTCS assessment periods – these interim threat classification statuses has not been assessed by the NZTCS panel.
- 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
Asteraceae
Synonyms
None
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
October - February
Fruiting
November - April
Life cycle and dispersal
Pappate cypselae are dispersed by wind (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Easily grown from fresh seed and hardwood cuttings. Reasonably easy to grow but dislikes humidity and cannot tolerate drying out. Best grown in a rockery or within a pot in an alpine house.
Other information
Cultivation
Occasionally available from specialist native plant nurseries.
Etymology
celmisia: Apparently named after Kelmis, one of Idaean Dactyls, a group of skilled mythical beings associated with the Mother Goddess Rhea in Greek mythology. Kelmis, whose name means ‘casting’, was a blacksmith and childhood friend of Zeus, son of Rhea and later king of the gods. In Ovid’s ‘Metamorphoses’, Kelmis is described as offending Zeus who turned him into adamant so he was as hard as a tempered blade
brevifolia: Short-leaved
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.
CELBRE
Chromosome number
2n = 108
Previous conservation statuses
2017 | Not Threatened
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Allan, H.H. 1961: Flora of New Zealand. Vol. I, Government Printer, Wellington.
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 adapted from Allan (1961)
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.