Chionochloa lanea
Common names
Stewart Island snow tussock
Biostatus
Native
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Grasses
Detailed description
Tall, slender tussock with abundant, long hairy, dull sheaths, and shiny, slender, deciduous leaves. Leaf-sheath to 150 mm, compressed, entire, persistent, covered with long (4 mm) interlacing internerve hairs, apical tuft of hairs to 4 mm. Ligule to 1 mm. Leaf-blade to 450 × 2 mm, V-shaped, or convolute, disarticulating at ligule, abaxially glabrous, adaxially with very short hairs at base and prickle-teeth and papillae above; margin smooth. Culm to 600 mm, internodes glabrous, slightly compressed, sheath with few or no long hairs. Inflorescence to 100 mm, pulvinate, few spikelets, abundantly long hairy. Spikelets of up to 6 florets. Glumes glabrous, acute, > adjacent lemma lobes; lower to 10 mm, 3-nerved, upper to 14 mm, 5-nerved. Lemma to 5 mm; hairs dense at margin and few or none aside central nerve, glabrous elsewhere, < sinus; lateral lobes up to 6 mm, linear-triangular; central awn up to 15 mm from twisting column to 2 mm. Palea to 6 mm. Callus to 0.8 mm, hairs to 3 mm. Rachilla to 1 mm. Lodicules to 1 mm. Anthers to 3.5 mm. Ovary to 1 mm; stigma-styles to 4 mm. Seeds to 1.5 mm.
Distribution
Endemic. New Zealand: Stewart Island.
Habitat
Coastal to alpine. Usually in montane to alpine grassland and scrub in wet, boggy, or peaty sites. Descending to almost sea level in the south on cliffs and boulder falls.
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 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: DPS, DPT, RR
Threats
Range Restricted Stewart island endemic which is abundant throughout its known range. Plants are browsed by white-tailed deer but otherwise seem secure.
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Poaceae
Synonyms
None (first described in 1991)
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
November–December
Fruiting
December–April
Life cycle
Florets are wind dispersed (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Easily grown from fresh seed and from rooted pieces but very slow to establish. Prefers a damp soil, and is best grown in semi-shaded conditions. In the northern part of its New Zealand this species rarely flowers.
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]
FACW: Facultative Wetland
Usually is a hydrophyte but occasionally found in uplands (non-wetlands).
Other information
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.
CHILAN
Chromosome number
2n = 42
Previous conservation statuses
2017 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: DP, RR
2012 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: RR
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.