Dracophyllum patens
Common names
Great Barrier Inaka
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Simplified description
Brownish small shrub with erect twigs bearing untidy tufts of grass-like long narrow pointed leaves inhabiting upland areas of the Coromandel and Great Barrier Island. Leaves 30-75mm long by 2-6mm wide, surrounding stem at the base. Flowers arranged in a short spike, below the leaves.
Flower colours
Red/Pink, White
Detailed description
Sparingly branched, erect shrub up to 1.2 m tall (usually less). Mature bark grey, much marked by leaf abscission scars. Leaves often pinkish-green, to red-green, ascending at first, maturing patent and spreading; leaf sheath 8-10 x 3-4 mm with scarious margins, sheath narrowing to a thick subulate lamina, this 35.0-40.0 × 6.0-6.5 mm, broadly lanceolate, apex acute, with margins minutely serrulate. Leaves of juveniles less rigid; sheath to 15 mm long, lamina to 100 m. x 10 mm. Inflorescence terminal on lateral branchlets; racemose, 2-6-flowered, racemes subtended by a tuft of leaves. Lowest bracts foliose; sheath 3-4 mm long, shoulder ciliate, lamina ± 15 mm. long, ciliolate, ± pubescent near sheath. Sepals broad, acute, sparingly ciliolate. Corolla-tube c.4 mm long, white or pinkish white, subcampanulate. Style stout, c.2 mm long. Capsule more or less 2 mm diameter.
Similar taxa
Dracophyllum patens is most likely to be confused with D. sinclairii with which it sometimes grows. From D. sinclairii, D. patens is easily distinguished by its smaller stature (up to 1.5 m tall cf. up to 2.6 m tall), often pinkish-green to red-green leaves with broad sheaths and short, broad, lamina with acute rather than acuminate apices.
Distribution
Endemic. New Zealand; North (Coromandel Peninsula (Maumaupaki, Table Mountain, upper Kauaeranga Valley, Pakirarahi, Hihi). and Great Barrier Islands
Habitat
Confined to exposures of rhyolite, hydrothermally altered andesites, and dacite rock within montane cloud forest (above 300 m a.s.l.) and regenerating shrubland within that altitudinal zone. Very rarely in tall forest.
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: RR
Threats
Listed because it is a narrow range endemic . It is locally abundant in the places it has been reported from.
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Synonyms
None (described in 1929)
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
Throughout the year
Fruiting
Throughout the year
Life cycle and dispersal
Minute seeds are wind dispersed (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Difficult. Should not be removed from the wild.
Other information
Where To Buy
Not commercially available.
Etymology
dracophyllum: Dragon leaf, from its likeness to the dragon tree of the Canary Islands
patens: Spreading
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.
DRAPAT
Chromosome number
2n = 26
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, H.H. 1961: Flora of New Zealand. Vol. I. Government Printer, Wellington
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
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange (14 May 2006). Description adapted from Allan (1961)
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.
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Dracophyllum patens Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/dracophyllum-patens/ (Date website was queried)