Celmisia spectabilis subsp. magnifica
Common names
Cotton daisy, mountain daisy, shephards tobacco
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledonous composites
Flower colours
White
Detailed description
Woody-based herb forming mats or cushions 2.0 m diameter; with branchlets arising from a usually hidden simple or multicipital stock. Living leaves in rosettes at the tips of branchlets, the whole forming a cushion or mat. Leaf sheaths densely imbricate and compacted, forming a pseudostem. Leaf lamina 70-290 × 1-45 mm, (ratio of length to width 5.6-10); coriaceous, usually lanceolate-oblong to narrowly ovate; upper surface shining and sulcate: lower surface densely covered in soft felted pale buff tomentum, midrib distinct; tip acute; margins entire and recurved, occasionally minutely toothed, with the lamina base cuneate to cuneate-truncate; sheath green to purple. Petiole thin with evident veins. Scape densely clad in floccose white hairs, stout, up to 300 mm long, bracteate, monocephalous Corolla of disc florets and achenes often with uniseriate and biseriate hairs, mostly hairy, rarely glabrous. Ray florets 40-100, ligulate, white. Disc florets 60-200, 5-9 mm long, funneliform: tube glabrous or with scattered uniseriate or biseriate hairs. Achene fusiform cylindric, grooved, 1.5-6.5 mm long, usually sparsely covered in bifid hairs, rarely glabrous. Pappus hairs 5-9 mm long, barbellate.
Similar taxa
Distinguished from Celmisia spectabilis subsp. spectabilis by the longer, broader leaves (70-290 × 1-45 mm cf. 30-180 × 3-30 mm in subsp. spectabilis), and cuneate to cuneate-truncate rather than angled leaf base. The achenes of subsp. sepctabilis are glabrous and those of subsp. magnifica mostly sparsely hairy. Celmisia spectabilis subsp. magnifica occurs to the south of the range of subsp. spectabilis from the Big Ben Range and Acheron Valley just north of Rakaia River, south to the Hunters Hills and Mount Studholme. From Celmisia spectabilis subsp. lanceolata, subsp. magnifica differs by its restriction to the South Island, and by its cuneate to cuneate-truncate rather than attenuate lamina base, and pale buff rather than almost white coloured tomentum. The leaf sheath of subsp. lanceolate is greenish rather than green to purple.
Distribution
Endemic. South Island: Big Ben Range and Acheron Valley just north of Rakaia River, south to the Hunters Hills and Mount Studholme.
Habitat
Alpine and subalpine grassland and herbfield rocky 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 | Not Threatened
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Asteraceae
Synonyms
Celmisia spectabilis var. magnifica Allan
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
October - February
Fruiting
November - May
Propagation technique
Easily grown from fresh seed. All three subspecies of Celmisia spectabilis are easily grown in most climates though they dislikes high humidity. They are best grown in a moist, free draining soil, within some afternoon shade.
Other information
Cultivation
Occasionaly available from specialist native plant nurseries
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
spectabilis: Notable
magnifica: Meaning ‘splendid’
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.
CELSSM
Chromosome number
2n = c.108
Previous conservation statuses
2017 | Not Threatened
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Given, D.R. 1984: A taxonomic revision of Celmisia subgenus Pelliculatae section Petiolatae (Compositae—Astereae). New Zealand Journal of Botany 22: 139-158.
Attribution
Description based on Given (1984)