Euphrasia monroi
Common names
alpine eyebright
Biostatus
Native
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
Flower colours
White
Detailed description
Densely branched perennial herb or subshrub arising from stout woody stock up to 4 mm diameter; stems stout, woody in lower parts, not or hardly rooting, crowded, sometime branched in upper parts, usually naked below and densely leafy at tips, bifariously white-pubescent. Leaves sessile, usually close-set, spreading, 5-10 x 3-6 mm, obovate to obovate-cuneate with 1-2 pairs of usually shallow incisions near broad obtuse apex, glabrous, very cartilaginous and usually blackish when dry with glossy thickened margins. Flowers usually few in tight cluster at tips of branches, pedicels up to 4 mm long, usually hidden; occasionally inflorescence. more elongated. Calyx 6-8 mm long, glabrous or nearly so, generally unevenly divided 1/3-1/2 way; lobes obtuse with thickened margins and midribs. Corolla white, 10-15 mm long; tube usually much longer than calyx and rather narrow; lobes of lower lip up to 6 mm wide, shallowly emarginate. Anthers golden brown to red-brown, marginal hairs numerous, awns stout, almost equal. Capsule more or less equal to calyx or occasionally exceeding it, broadly oblong, glabrous; seeds numerous, approximately 2 mm long.
Similar taxa
Similar to and closely related to Euphrasia laingii with which it sympatric, and from which it differs by it leaves being extremely cartilaginous when dry, leaves are cuneate to broad-obovate rather than narrow-cuneate to cuneate-oblong or -obovate in outline giving the plant a stouter appearance. The pedicels of E. monroi are usually congested and hidden (up to 4 mm long), compared to the longer (up to 10 mm long), more obvious pedicels of E. laingii.
Distribution
Endemic. South Island, Mountains of Nelson and Marlborough.
Habitat
Montane to subalpine.
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
Plants from Mount Stokes usually referred to E. monroi are not quite typical, but usually have smaller leaves and sometimes elongated inflorescences.
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
(September-) October – February.
Fruiting
December – March.
Life cycle
Seeds is dispersed by wind and possibly water and ballistic projection (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Other information
Etymology
euphrasia: Eye-medicine
monroi: Named after Sir David Monro who was a 19th century New Zealand politician
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.
EUPMON
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. Page 852.
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.
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: Ward, M.D. (Year at time of access): Euphrasia monroi Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/euphrasia-monroi/ (Date website was queried)