Celmisia parva
Common name
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.
CELPAR
Chromosome number
2n = 108
Current conservation status
The threat classification 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. Authors: By 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. Please note, threat classifications are often suggested by authors when publications fall between NZTCS assessment periods – a suggested threat classification status has not been assessed by the NZTCS panel.
Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2017 | Not Threatened | Qualifiers: DP
Previous conservation statuses
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
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
Features
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)
Flowering
November - January
Flower colours
White
Fruiting
January - April
Life cycle
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
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
Where To Buy
Not Commercially Available
Attribution
Description adapted from Allan (1961)
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