Celmisia haastii var. haastii
Common names
Haast’s mountain daisy
Synonyms
None
Family
Asteraceae
Flora category
Vascular – Native
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledonous composites
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.
CELHVH
Chromosome number
2n = 108
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) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes a statistical summary and brief notes on changes since 2012 and replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants.
Please note, threat classifications are often suggested by authors when publications fall between NZTCS assessment periods – an interim threat classification status has not been assessed by the NZTCS panel.
- Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017 . 2018. 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. Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2017 | Not Threatened
Previous conservation statuses
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
Distribution
Endemic. South Island, occurring south from about North Canterbury.
Habitat
Montane to alpine. Inhabiting grassland, herbfield, fellfield and other moist rocky places.
Detailed description
Rather stout low-growing branching grey-green subshrub forming small to large patches; branchlets ascending to erect, lower parts covered by leaf remnants, upper part obscured by rosette-leaves. Lamina 30-80 × 10-28 mm, broadly elliptic-oblong to obovate-spathulate, subcoriaceous to coriaceous; upper surface glabrous, usually longitudinally furrowed, pale green; lower surface clad in closely appressed ± satiny tomentum, midrib tomentose but ± evident; apex obtuse to subacute; margins slightly recurved, very minutely distantly denticulate, cuneately narrowed to winged petiole c. 5 mm long. Sheath delicate, pale yellowish green, ± 20-30 × 5 mm; veins evident. Scape c. 50-150 mm long, densely tomentose to almost glabrous, rather stout to slender; bracts several or numerous, linear-subulate, acute to subacute, up to c. 2 mm long or more. Capitula 25-40 mm diameter; involucral bracts linear-lanceolate, membranous, softly hairy without, up to c. 12 mm long. Ray florets 15-20 mm long; limb narrow-oblong to narrow obovate-oblong, 3-5 toothed. Disk-florets funnelform, shortly 5-toothed, 6-8 mm long. Achenes narrow-cylindric, glabrous, 3-4 mm long. Pappus-hairs up to 5-6 mm long, very finely barbellate.
Similar taxa
Allied to C. discolor, C. incana, C. angustifolia, C. durietzii, C. lindsayi, C. bonplandii, C. hectorii and C. cockayneana. Of these Allan (1961) considered it closest to C. durietzii and C. cockayneana. From C. durietzii, C. haastii differs by the glabrous achenes and longer, wider leaves (30-80 × 10-28 mm cf. 30-60 × 7-10 mm) and pale yellowish-green rather than translucent sheath. From C. cockayneana it differs by the glabrous rather than hairy ahcenes and shorter, broader leaves (30-80 × 10-28 mm cf. 40-100 × 10-15 mm). Celmisia cockayneana is a Marlborough endemic that grows well north of the range of C. haastii. For distinctions between C. haastii var. haastii and var. tomentosa see the factsheet for C. haastii var. tomentosa.
Flowering
October - January
Flower colours
White, Yellow
Fruiting
December - March
Life cycle
Pappate cypselae are dispersed by wind (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Difficult. Best grown from fresh seed. Dislikes humidity.
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
haastii: Honours the New Zealand geologist and botanist Sir Julius von Haast (1822-87)
Where To Buy
Not commercially available.
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.
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: 285-309.