Celmisia vespertina
Synonyms
None (first described in 1969)
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.
CELVES
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: Mostly west of the Main Divide of the Southern Alps, from near the Taramakau Valley southwards to near Mount Aspiring. Otherwise known in the east only from the Ben Ohau Range
Habitat
Alpine grassland and associated fell field
Features
Woody-based perennial herb arising from a multicipital stock. Leaf lamina linear, rigid but recurved, 50-150 × 3-5 mm; upper surface grooved, dark green, clad in a thick pellicle which becomes golden on drying; lower surface clad in thick appressed white tomentum, midrib prominent; margins entire, often revolute. Sheath 30-60 mm long, membranous, yellow-orange and clad in a thin pellicle. Scape 100-150 mm × 2-3 mm, bracts few. Involucral bracts erect, linear-oblong to subulate, acute, up to 12 mm long, inner narrower than outer; margins fringed with long white hairs, particularly near the base; surface almost glabrous; venation simple. Receptacle obconic, upper surface alveolate. Ray florets up to 20 mm long, limb linear and glabrous, tube narrow with a few eglandular hairs near top. In disc florets, corolla tube gradually narrowed from apex to base, glabrous or sparsely hairy with long biseriate hairs; stamen tip acute, anther tails short; style bifid, the arms differentiated into a lower parallel-sided papillose portion and an upper short-triangular portion bearing short collecting hairs. Pappus bristles unequal, up to 4 mm long, with closely spaced short teeth. Achene 2.0-3.0 × 0.5 mm, fusiform, compressed, strongly ribbed and clad in bifid hairs.
Similar taxa
Could be confused with Celmisia insignis a Marlborough endemic from which it differs its smaller achenes that are covered in bifid hairs rather than glabrous, by its shorter pappus, by the disc florets which have fewer corolla hairs and by its shorter, darker green and more distinctly grooved leaves. In addition, Celmisia insignis lacks the distinctive pellicle characterising dried specimens of C. vespertina. The species is similar to C. petriei and C. polyvena from both of which it differs by its intermediate size and leaf and by its distinctive pellicle and sheath colour.
Flowering
December - February
Flower colours
White, Yellow
Fruiting
January - March
Life cycle
Pappate cypselae are dispersed by wind (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Unknown.
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 based on Given (1969)
References and further reading
Given, D.R. 1969: Taxonomic notes on the genus Celmisia (Compositae). New Zealand Journal of Botany 7: 389-399.
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