Celmisia cockayneana
Common names
Cockayne’s mountain daisy
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledonous composites
Flower colours
White, Yellow
Detailed description
Stout subshrub; stems woody, c.100 mm diameter; branches stout, usually rather close-set, erect or ascending, clad in leaf-remains; living leaves rosulate at tips of branchlets. Lamina coriaceous, ± 40-100 × 10-15 mm; narrowly obovate-spathulate to obovate-oblong, subacute to obtuse, usually minutely apiculate; upper surface glabrous, veins ± distinct; lower surface clad in dense appressed white satiny tomentum, midrib dark, prominent; margins sinuate, distantly furnished with glandular denticles, narrowed cuneately to petiole then widening to nearly glabrous sheath c. 10 mm long. Scape rather slender to rather stout, 145-210 mm long, rather densely clad in viscid glandular hairs; bracts usually many; lower up to 30 mm long, leaf-like, ± lanceolate, apiculate; upper linear-oblong. Capitula 20-40 mm diameter; involucral bracts numerous, lower bractiform, ± 12 mm long, narrow lanceolate, acuminate, densely clad in glandular hairs; upper linear-subulate. Ray-florets ± 15 mm long, white, limb narrow-oblong; disk-florets tubular, c. 5-6 mm long, yellow. Achenes narrow-cylindric, ± compressed. 1.0-1•5 mm long; ribs very densely clad in short silky hairs. Pappus-hairs up to 6 mm long, off-white, hardly barbellate.
Similar taxa
Perhaps closest to Celmisia haastii from which it is best distinguished by its longer leaves (400-100 × 10-15 mm cf. 30-80 × 10-250 mm), shorter sheath (10 mm cf. 20-30 mm) and extremely hairy rather than glabrous seeds. Celmisia cockayneana is endemic to Marlborough, while C. haastii ranges from about North Canterbury south.
Distribution
South Island. Endemic: Marlborough
Habitat
Montane to subalpine. Rupestral, in rock-crevices in shaded sites
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 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: Sp, DPS, DPT
Threats
A naturally uncommon species that does not appear to be actively threatened
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Asteraceae
Synonyms
None
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
October - January
Fruiting
November - March
Life cycle and dispersal
Pappate cypselae are dispersed by wind (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Unknown. Probably best grown from fresh seed and like many Celmisia this species will probably dislike high humidity and drying out.
Other information
Where To Buy
Not commercially available.
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
cockayneana: Named after Leonard Cockayne FRS (7 April 1855 - 8 July 1934) who is regarded as New Zealand’s greatest botanist and a founder of modern science in New Zealand
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.
CELCOC
Chromosome number
2n = 108
Previous conservation statuses
2017 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: DP, Sp
2012 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: Sp
2009 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon
2004 | Range Restricted
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 11(4): 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.