Euphrasia laingii
Common names
eyebright
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
Flower colours
White
Detailed description
Perennial herb much branched from woody stock; stems woody at base, often prostrate and rooting in lower parts, branches erect, 80-150 (-200) mm tall, bifariously pubescent. Leaves sessile, usually rather distant, more or less ascending, 6-12 (-15) x 3-6 (-8) mm, narrow-cuneate to cuneate-obovate or -oblong, 3-lobed at tip with narrow lateral lobes and broad, obtuse to subacute central lobe, sometimes incisions very shallow, glabrous, usually reddish when fresh, margins thickened and recurved. Flowers, up to 6 pairs in short or elongated raceme; pedicels up to 10 mm long, sometimes longer than leaves. Calyx 6-12 mm long, glabrous or sparsely pubescent at very base, generally unevenly divided ¼ -⅓ way; lobes acute to obtuse, margins and midribs thickened and sometimes reddish. Corolla white, 15-20 mm long, 10-15 mm diameter; tube longer than calyx; lobes of lower lip approximately 4-6 mm wide, emarginate. Anthers red-brown, marginal hairs numerous, awns usually unequal. Capsule shorter than calyx, approximately 6-9 x 3-4 mm, oblong to narrow-oblong or -obovate, glabrous or sparsely setose: seeds numerous, 1.5-2 mm long.
Similar taxa
Similar to and closely related to Euphrasia monroi with which it sympatric, and from which it differs by it leaves being less cartilaginous compared to extremely cartilaginous when dry, leaves are narrow-cuneate to cuneate-oblong or -obovate rather than cuneate to broad-obovate in outline giving the plant a more slender appearance. The pedicels of E. laingii are longer (up to 10 mm long) and more obvious compared to the usually congested and hidden (up to 4 mm long), pedicels of E. monroi.
Distribution
Endemic. South Island, mountains of Marlborough and Canterbury.
Habitat
Montane to subalpine open places on drier mountains.
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 | Not Threatened
Detailed taxonomy
Genus
Family
Taxonomic notes
Rather variable in the northern part of its range and sometimes not clearly distinct from E. monroi. Specimens from Amuri with 5-toothed leaves have been labelled by Petrie “E. laingii var.” Specimens from Mt. Owen, Nelson, with broadly 3-5-lobed leaves may be correctly placed here also, but the stouter perennial species of western Nelson are very poorly known. Some forms found in Marlborough have small, almost entire leaves, and slender plants collected in the Tararua Range, North Island by Druce are very similar.
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
December – February (-March).
Fruiting
January – March (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
laingii: Named after Robert Malcolm Laing (1865-1941), a botanist and phycologist from Canterbury, who focused on Banks Peninsula, the Canterbury foothills, Campbell Island, the Spencer Mountains and Norfolk Island.
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.
EUPLAI
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 | 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. Page 853.
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 (5 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.