Celmisia parva
Common names
mountain daisy
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledonous composites
Flower colours
White
Detailed description
Small branching herb hugging ground in small patches; leaves spreading, rosulate at tips of branchlets. Lamina submembranous, ± 10-30 × 3-10 mm; linear- to oblong-lanceolate to narrow-oblong; upper surface glabrous or nearly so, midrib and usually main veins evident; lower surface densely clad in appressed soft to satiny white hairs, midrib usually distinct; apex subacute, apiculate; margins slightly recurved, minutely distantly denticulate, cuneately narrowed to slender petiole up to 20 mm long; sheath membranous, ± = lamina. Scape almost filiform, glabrous or with a few spreading hairs, ± 40-100 mm long; bracts almost filiform, with widened bases, few (sometimes absent), lowermost up to c. 10 mm long. Capitula ± 10-15 mm diameter; involucral bracts linear-subulate, acute to acuminate, apiculate, scarious, midrib distinct. Rays-florets up to c. 8 mm. long, white, linear, teeth very narrow-triangular; disk-florets 4-5 mm long, ± glandular at base, teeth triangular. Achenes narrow-cylindric, 1-2 mm long, glabrous or nearly so (in some forms with stiff hairs on obscure ribs). Pappus-hairs up to 4-5 mm long, very slender, sordid-white, very minutely barbellate
Similar taxa
Readily recognised by the slender, much branched, creeping and freely rooting stems. Plants form compact patches or mats and the leaves are arranged in small, rosulate clusters are the tips of the branchlets. Celmisia parva is mostly likely to be confused with C. bellidoides and C. thomsonii which share a similar growth habit. It is distinguished from both species by the leaf undersides which are densely clad in thick, white tomentum. The leaf undersides of Celmisia bellidioides and C. thomsonii are either glabrous or sparsely hairy (with the hairs distinctly bristle-like)
Distribution
Endemic. South Island: westerly from North-West Nelson to about the Paparoa Range
Habitat
Lowland to subalpine. Inhabiting poorly drained ground in shrubland, pakihi, grassland, herbfield, and around rock outcrops
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 | Qualifiers: DPS, DPT
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Asteraceae
Synonyms
None
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
November - January
Fruiting
January - April
Life cycle and dispersal
Pappate cypselae are dispersed by wind (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Easily grown in a shaded site, planted within a permanently moist, free draining, acidic soil. Dislikes humidity and will not tolerate drying out. Best grown from fresh seed which should be sown immediately or stratified in a fridge or freezer for 1-3 months
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
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.
CELPAR
Chromosome number
2n = 108
Previous conservation statuses
2017 | Not Threatened | Qualifiers: DP
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 11: 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.