Colobanthus hookeri
Common names
Hooker’s colobanthus
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
Detailed description
Plant forming compact cushion 20–50 mm diameter, branches many and close, 20–30 mm long, leafy throughout. Leaves closely imbricated, incurved towards stem, rigid and shining; sheaths mostly hidden; blades 4–5 mm long, subulate, tapering from base to short acicular tip; border and midrib distinguishable in very young leaves when dry. Peduncles about = leaves. Flowers 3.0–3.5 mm long; sepals usually 5, broader than leaves, ovate-subulate, pouched at base, tapering to very short acicular tip, midrib forming flattish keel; capsule lobes about = sepals.
Distribution
Endemic. New Zealand: Auckland Islands and Campbell Island/Motu Ihupuku.
Habitat
Montane to subalpine, usually on bare or sparsely vegetated rock.
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.
- 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: CI, DPT, RR
Threats
A Naturally Uncommon, range-restricted species. There are no known threats. Both the Auckland Islands and Campbell Island/Motu Ihupuku are Nature Reserves and part of a World Heritage Park. All access is strictly controlled by the New Zealand Department of Conservation.
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Synonyms
Colobanthus benthamianus Cheeseman; hadalso been confused with Colobanthus subulatus Hook. f.
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
December
Fruiting
January
Life cycle and dispersal
Winged seeds are dispersed by water and possibly also wind and ballistic projection (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Unknown in cultivation.
Other information
Where To Buy
Not Commericially Available
Etymology
colobanthus: Mutilated flower wth no petals
hookeri: Named after Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (born 1817) - a world famous botanist who travelled on the Antarctic expedition of 1839 under the command of Sir James Ross and wrote “Handbook of New Zealand Flora” published in 1864-67 describing many specimens sent to Kew by collectors. He died in 1911 and has a memorial stone at Westminster Abbey London.
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.
COLHOO
Previous conservation statuses
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.
- 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.
2017 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: RR
2012 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: RR
2009 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon
2004 | Range Restricted
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Allan HH. 1961. Flora of New Zealand, Volume I. Indigenous Tracheophyta: Psilopsida, Lycopsida, Filicopsida, Gymnospermae, Dicotyledones. Government Printer, Wellington, NZ. 1085 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. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ppees.2009.06.001.
Attribution
Description modified from: Allan, H.H. (1961).