Euphrasia australis
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
Flower colours
White, Yellow
Detailed description
Slender sparingly-branched annual herb 50-200 mm tall, branches bifariously white-pubescent and more or less glandular-pilose, internodes very elongated. Leaves sessile, up to 10-12 x 7-8 mm, more or less obovate-cuneate with 2-3 pairs of acute teeth, sometimes almost suborbicular with teeth obtuse, glabrous or with sparse long glandular hairs, sometimes sparsely white-pubescent, margins thickened and revolute. Flowers, few towards the tips of the branches, pedicels short or up to 10 mm in flower, usually elongated and up to 25 mm in fruit. Calyx 4-6 mm long, sometimes enlarged in fruit up to 12 x 8 mm, pilose with long glandular hairs and sometimes also white-pubescent; lobes acute to obtuse, margins and midribs thickened. Corolla white, approximately 10-12 mm long; tube slightly to much longer than calyx; lobes of lower lip 1.5-3 mm wide, entire. Anthers yellow to golden brown, margins sparsely hairy to glabrous, awns slender, almost equal. Capsule approximately equal to calyx or much shorter, approximately 5-6 x 5 mm, obovate, finely setose at apex; seeds approximately 4-6 per locule.
Similar taxa
Similar in appearance to Euphrasia zelandica and was previously thought to be merely a varietal of that species. E. zelandica is generally smaller in stature than E. australis, up to 100 mm high compared to 200 mm, having a slenderer appearance. The flower pedicels are longer on E. australis, up to 10mm compared to up to 4 mm in E. zelandica. E. zelandica has shorter white hairs compared longer more sparse glandular hairs on E. australis. E. zelandica has a larger distribution range (see that species fact sheet), E. australis is restricted to West Otago and Fiordland.
Distribution
Endemic. South Island. West Otago and Fiordland, subalpine to almost sea level in fiords.
Habitat
Subalpine to almost sea level in fiords. Boggy ground in sub-alpine meadow, shrubby-tussockland, tussock grassland.
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
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Orobanchaceae
Taxonomic notes
An early entity known as E. crosby-smithii Petrie was described from a single collecting “Wet alpine meadow on Mount Cleughearn, Fiord County, about 5,000 ft.; J. Crosby Smith”. The type sheet (W 4852) contains 3 tiny plants 20 mm high with flowers and capsules on pedicels up to 5 mm long. Apart from unusually small size these cannot be separated from the other E. australis/zelandica forms of Fiordland
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
November - April
Fruiting
December - April
Life cycle and dispersal
Seeds is dispersed by wind and possibly water and ballistic projection (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Other information
Etymology
euphrasia: Eye-medicine
australis: Southern
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.
EUPAUS
Previous conservation statuses
2017 | Not Threatened
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
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
Allan, H. H. 1961. Flora of New Zealand. Volume 1. Wellington: Government Printer. pg.857.
Petrie, D. 1916. Descriptions of New Native Phanerogams. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 48: pg. 186-192.
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared for NZPCN by M. Ward (30 October 2020) 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: Ward, M.D. (Year at time of access): Euphrasia australis Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/euphrasia-australis/ (Date website was queried)