Euphrasia cheesemanii
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
Flower colours
White
Detailed description
Slender succulent annual herb 50-100 mm high with lax ascending bifariously pubescent branches up to 200 mm or more long. Leaves sessile, distant, 4-10 x 3-8 mm, ovate to ovate-oblong with 2-4 pairs of obtuse to subacute crenations and obtuse tip, submembranous, subglabrous or finely white-pubescent, margins and veins below thickened and scabrid or setose with fine stiff hairs. Flowers few and usually distant towards the upper part of the branches, pedicels slender, white-pubescent and sometimes also glandular-hairy, up to 30 mm long and usually much longer than leaves, usually more or less curved in fruit. Calyx 3-4 mm long, subevenly divided about ⅓ way into obtuse lobes with margins and midribs thickened and white-pubescent, sometimes glandular hairs also present. Corolla white, 8-12 mm. long; tube much greater than calyx; lobes of lower lip 2.5-3 mm. wide, entire. Anthers golden yellow, margins hairy, awns unequal. Capsule equal to or greater than calyx, 3-4 x 3-3.5 mm, obovate to suborbicular, finely setose at apex; seeds 2 per locule or 1 by abortion, approximately 2 mm long.
Similar taxa
Forms of Euphrasia australis with obtuse leaf-teeth and calyx-lobes are superficially very similar to E. cheesemanii but differ in pubescence, anther-characters and number of ovules.
Distribution
Endemic. South Island, north-west Nelson to the Brunner Range and Mount Mantell.
Habitat
Montane to subalpine wet places and edges of swamps.
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: RR
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Orobanchaceae
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
December - February
Fruiting
January - March
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
cheesemanii: Named after Thomas Frederick Cheeseman (1846 - 15 October 1923) who was a New Zealand botanist and naturalist who, in 1906, produced The Manual of the New Zealand Flora.
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.
EUPCHE
Previous conservation statuses
2017 | Not Threatened
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Allan, H. H. 1961. Flora of New Zealand. Volume 1. Wellington: Government Printer. Pages 857-858.
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 M.D. Ward (3 November 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 cheesemanii Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/euphrasia-cheesemanii/ (Date website was queried)