Chionochloa beddiei
Common names
Beddie’s tussock, Cook Strait tussock
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Grasses
Detailed description
Short, shiny tussock with stiff and widely spreading shoots and persistent leaves. Leaf-sheath to 150 mm, slightly keeled, pale yellow, persistent, becoming fibrous, margins above with long hairs, apical tuft of hairs to 2 mm. Ligule to 0.5 mm. Leaf-blade to 600 × 4 mm, flat to U-shaped, persistent, deflexed at collar, abaxially glabrous, adaxially with a weft of short hairs at base, abundant prickle-teeth above; margin with long hairs below, becoming shaggy, hairs mostly antrorse and appressed. Culm to 750 mm, internodes glabrous except for short, dense hairs below inflorescence. Inflorescence to 150 mm, congested with short branches, bristling with awns; rachis, branches and pedicels short soft hairy. Spikelets of up to 5 florets. Glumes to 13 mm, shortly awned, < adjacent lemma lobes, prickle-teeth above, otherwise glabrous; lower 1–3-nerved, upper 1–5-nerved. Lemma to 6 mm; hairs dense at margin and in all internerves, or sometimes only aside central nerve, > sinus; lateral lobes to 11 mm including strict awn to 8 mm, prickle-teeth adaxially and abaxially and on lemma margins; central awn to 22 mm much deflexed from twisting column to 4 mm. Palea to 8.5 mm, produced into two conspicuous narrow processes; prickle-teeth abaxially above. Callus to 1 mm, hairs to 5 mm. Rachilla to 1 mm. Lodicules to 1.75 mm. Anthers to 4.5 mm. Ovary to 1 mm; stigma-styles to 4 mm. Seeds to 3 mm.
Distribution
Endemic. New Zealand: North Island (South Wellington Coast from about the Orongorongo River east to White Rock east of Cape Palliser).
Habitat
Coastal and lowland. Usually on coastal bluffs, cliffs, talus slopes and sparsely scrub-covered promontories, occasionally extending for short distances inland.
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 | Threatened – Nationally Vulnerable | Qualifiers: Sp, RR, RF
Threats
Not Threatened. Listed because it is a naturally uncommon, regional endemic.
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Poaceae
Synonyms
None
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
November–December
Fruiting
December–May
Life cycle and dispersal
Florets are wind dispersed (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Can be difficult. Best grown from fresh seed. Plants should be planted where they are to grow as they resent much root disturbance. Best in full sun, in a freely draining soil or on a stone wall. Dislikes humidity.
Other information
Where To Buy
Not Commercially Available.
Etymology
chionochloa: Snow grass
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.
CHIBED
Chromosome number
2n = 42
Previous conservation statuses
2017 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: PD, RR, Sp
2012 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: PD, RR, Sp
2009 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon
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 (2000).
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.