Chionochloa acicularis
Common names
needle snow tussock
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Grasses
Detailed description
Tall, slender, erect, pedicelled tussock, with sharp-pointed, glabrous, deciduous leaves. Leaf-sheath to 120 mm, dark above, pale shining below, persistent, becoming chartaceous, keeled, clothed with long (3 mm) abundant deciduous hairs, apical tuft of hairs to 7 mm. Ligule to 0.5 mm. Leaf-blade to 500 × 1 mm diameter, acicular rush-like, thickened at midrib, disarticulating at ligule, abaxially glabrous, adaxially with dense very short stiff hairs below, papillae and occasionally some prickle-teeth above; margin smooth. Culm to 600 mm, long and short hairs below inflorescence otherwise glabrous. Inflorescence to 100 mm, spikelets few; rachis, branches and pedicels abundantly long hairy especially at branch axils. Spikelets of up to 7 golden florets. Glumes becoming acute or mucronate, glabrous, > adjacent lemma lobes; lower to 11 mm, 3-nerved, upper to 13 mm, 5-nerved. Lemma to 5 mm; dense hairs at margin and erect hairs aside central nerve or rarely between all nerves, ± reaching sinus; lateral lobes to 4 mm, triangular-acute; central awn to 14 mm from divergent flat column to 2 mm. Palea to 7 mm. Callus to 1 mm, hairs to 2.5 mm. Rachilla to 0.5 mm. Lodicules to 1 mm. Anthers to 4 mm. Ovary to 0.8 mm; stigma-styles to 2 mm. Seeds to 3 mm.
Distribution
Endemic. New Zealand: South Island (South Westland and Fiordland).
Habitat
Lowland to upper montane. On peaty soils in grasslands, and scattered through scrub
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
Threats
A naturally uncommon, regional endemic.
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Poaceae
Synonyms
None
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
October–December
Fruiting
November–February
Life cycle and dispersal
Florets are wind dispersed (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Easily grown from fresh seed and rooted pieces. Prefers a permanently damp, acidic soil and semi-shade. Plants must never be allowed to dry out.
Wetland plant indicator status rating
Information derived from the revised national wetland plant list prepared to assist councils in delineating and monitoring wetlands (Clarkson et al., 2021 Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research Contract Report LC3975 for Hawke’s Bay Regional Council). The national plant list categorises plants by the extent to which they are found in wetlands and not ‘drylands’. The indicator status ratings are OBL (obligate wetland), FACW (facultative wetland), FAC (facultative), FACU (facultative upland), and UPL (obligate upland). If you have suggestions for the Wetland Indicator Status Rating, please contact: [Enable JavaScript to view protected content]
FAC: Facultative
Commonly occurs as either a hydrophyte or non-hydrophyte (non-wetlands).
Other information
Where To Buy
Not commercially available
Etymology
chionochloa: Snow grass
acicularis: From the Latin acicula ‘small pin’ refers to things which are needle-like, needle-shaped, stiff or pointed
Manaaki Whenua Online Interactive Key
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.
CHIACI
Chromosome number
2n = 42
Previous conservation statuses
2017 | Not Threatened | Qualifiers: DP
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Range Restricted
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Edgar E, Connor HE. 2000. Flora of New Zealand. Vol. V. Grasses. Christchurch, Manaaki Whenua Press. 650 p.
Thorsen MJ, Dickinson KJM, Seddon PJ. 2009. Seed dispersal systems in the New Zealand flora. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 11: 285–309.
Attribution
Description modified from Edgar and Connor (200)