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  4. Euphrasia petriei

Euphrasia petriei

Temple Basin, Arthurs Pass.<br>Photographer: Mike Thorsen, Licence: All rights reserved. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
large-flowered form. Temple Basin, Arthurs Pass.<br>Photographer: Mike Thorsen, Licence: All rights reserved. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Old Woman.<br>Photographer: Mike Thorsen, Licence: All rights reserved. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
West Otago form. Harris Mts, Otago.<br>Photographer: Mike Thorsen, Licence: All rights reserved. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Hector Mountains.<br>Photographer: John Barkla, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Temple Basin, February.<br>Photographer: John Smith-Dodsworth, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>.
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Common names

eyebright

Biostatus

Native – Endemic taxon

Category

Vascular

Structural class

Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites

Flower colours

White

Detailed description

Tufted perennial herb sometimes arising from woody stock; stems woody at base, much-branched, prostrate or decumbent, rooting at nodes, branches erect, 20-80 (-120) mm tall, bifariously or occasionally uniformly pubescent. Leaves sessile, crowded or occasionally distant, 5-10 (-15) x 3-6 (-8) mm, obovate-cuneate to broadly obovate or suborbicular, unequally 3-lobed at tip with obtuse to subacute terminal lobe, or more evenly and acutely 3-5 (-7) toothed, surfaces glabrous, margins thickened, sometimes ciliate with glandular or non-glandular hairs. Flowers few clustered at tips of branches on short hidden pedicels, or in more elongated raceme with obvious pedicels sometimes equal to leaves. Calyx 5-9 mm long, usually glandular-hairy and white-pubescent, sometimes almost glabrous, evenly or subevenly divided ¼-⅓ way. Corolla white, 8-12-20 mm long and diameter; tube longer than calyx; lobes of lower lip up to 8 mm wide and emarginate or not greater than 4 mm wide and entire. Anthers red-brown, margins hairy, awns usually slightly unequal. Capsule less than or equal to calyx, 4-8 x 3.5-5 mm, more or less oval, glabrous; seeds numerous.

Similar taxa

The rather variable range of forms are similar in habit to Euphrasia revoluta or Euphrasia laingii but differ distinctly from both in the shape of the leaves and the glandular pubescence of the calyx. In this latter character and in habit they resemble Euphrasia townsonii but differ from that species in leaf-shape and short pedicels. See ‘Taxonomic Notes’ below for further information.

Distribution

Endemic. South Island, mountains of main divide from Arthur’s Pass to western Otago and Fiordland.

Habitat

Subalpine open and rocky places.

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

Jump to previous conservation statuses

Detailed taxonomy

Family

Orobanchaceae

Authority

Euphrasia petriei Ashwin

Synonyms

Formally grouped in Euphrasia revoluta Hook. f.

Taxonomic notes

Flower-size varies greatly and can be used to divide the species into 2 more or less geographically separated forms:

In Canterbury and north-west Otago corollas are usually exceptionally large, (10-) 15-20 mm long and diameter, with lobes of lower lip 4-8 mm wide, bluntly expanded at tip and emarginate. Leaves are sometimes densely ciliate, and the plants may be up to 120 mm tall. This form (which includes the type) often occurs in company with E. revoluta sensu stricto and many mixed collections have been made. Even if the distinctive glandular pubescence is absent E. petriei is usually easily separated by its very differently shaped leaves, larger flowers, and stouter habit. However, occasionally specimens combine characters of both species and hybridism may be a factor contributing to the variability of E petriei in this part of its range.

In Fiordland and western Otago south of approximate latitude 44° corollas are much smaller, approximately 8-12 mm long and diameter, with lobes of lower lip only 2-4 mm wide and entire. Leaves are always glabrous and the plants rarely greater than 50 mm tall, though an anomalous collection from Clinton Saddle referred by Petrie to Euphrasia australis consists of luxuriant plants up to 100 mm tall with distant leaves and long pedicels. Dwarf densely tufted forms which have been collected on the Hector Mountains and Mount Pisa appear very distinct but are probably only epharmonic modifications. This form could receive varietal recognition, but as there is a possibility that Hooker’s Euphrasia antarctica var. major and/or var. grandiflora belong here no new epithet is given.

Endemic taxon

Yes

Endemic genus

No

Endemic family

No

Ecology

Flowering

November – February.

Fruiting

December – 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

petriei: Named after Donald Petrie (1846 -1925), Scottish born Otago botanist

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.

EUPPET

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

Jump to current conservation status

Regional conservation statuses

Otago: 2024 | At Risk – Regionally Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: DPR, DPS, DPT, NS, NStr, RR, Sp

The regional threat classification system leverages off the national assessments in the NZTCS, providing information relevant for the regional context. Otago conservation status information is sourced from the “Regional conservation status of indigenous vascular plants in Otago” Jarvie S et al. (2024) report.

Referencing and citations

References and further reading

Allan, H. H. 1961. Flora of New Zealand. Volume 1. Wellington: Government Printer. Page 855.

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 (9 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 petriei Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/euphrasia-petriei/ (Date website was queried)

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