Celmisia ramulosa var. ramulosa
Common names
mountain daisy
Biostatus
Native
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledonous composites
Flower colours
White
Detailed description
Small shrub or subshrub with rather stout procumbent to ascending branched woody stems up to c.20 mm long; branchlets stiff, rather close-set, more or less 50 mm long. Leaves densely imbricate, erect, finally reflexed. Lamina c.5.0-10.0 × 1.5-2.0 mm, linear-oblong to subulate, coriaceous; upper surface glabrous or nearly so, pale green; lower surface densely clad in soft white tomentum obscuring midrib; margins strongly revolute; apex obtuse, more or less trigonous-cucullate; base passing into broad pale membranous glabrous sheath more or less = lamina, with distinct midrib. Scape c.10-40 mm long, slender, densely glandular-pubescent; bracts few, more or less 5 mm long, linear. Capitula 20-25 mm diameter; involucral bracts c.5 mm long, linear-oblong, acute to subacute, densely glandular-pubescent. Ray-florets narrow, disk-florets narrow-tubular, c.5 mm long. Achenes c.3-4 mm long, narrow-cylindric, obscurely ribbed, with a few hairs. Pappus-hairs fine, white to sordid-white, up to c.4 mm long, very minutely barbellate
Similar taxa
One of a small group of subshrub Celmisia which includes C. brevifolia, C. gibbsii, C. rupestris, C. lateralis and C. walkeri. From these species C. ramulosa is distinguished by the scape which is 100-400 mm long; by the lamina which is 5.0-10.0 x 1.5-2.0 mm, and by the leaf undersides which is clad in soft white tomentum. Celmisia ramulosa var. tuberculata differs from var. ramulosa by the leaf margin which is distinctly papillate-hairy rather than entire and glabrous
Distribution
Endemic. South Island: Otago, Southland and Fiordland.
Habitat
Upper montane to subalpine 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 (first described in 1864)
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
November - February
Fruiting
January - May
Life cycle
Pappate cypselae are dispersed by wind (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Difficult. Should not be removed from the wild
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.
CELRVR
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 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.