Euphrasia revoluta
Common name
eyebright
Family
Orobanchaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Native
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
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.
EUPREV
Current conservation status
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2017 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS). This report includes a statistical summary and brief notes on changes since 2012 and replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Authors: By Peter J. de Lange, Jeremy R. Rolfe, John W. Barkla, Shannel P. Courtney, Paul D. Champion, Leon R. Perrie, Sarah M. Beadel, Kerry A. Ford, Ilse Breitwieser, Ines Schönberger, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Peter B. Heenan and Kate Ladley.
2012 | Not Threatened
Previous conservation statuses
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
Distribution
Endemic. North and South Islands, Ruahine and Tararua Ranges southwards.
Habitat
Subalpine boggy and open places, tussock-grassland, and herb-fields.
Features
Low tufted perennial herb sometimes with woody stock up to 2 mm diameter; stems slender, rooting at nodes and stoloniferous, branches numerous, erect, up to approximately 50 mm tall, slender to filiform, white-pubescent. Leaves sessile, usually rather close-set, 2-10 x 1-5 mm, narrow- to rhomboid-cuneate with 1 pair of small acute teeth below large triangular or rounded terminal lobe, glabrous, margins thickened and revolute. Flowers single or few at tips of branches, subsessile or on white-pubescent pedicels up to approximately 5 mm long. Calyx 5-8 mm long, white-pubescent, evenly or subevenly divided approximately ⅓ way; lobes acute to subacute, margins and midribs thickened and reddish. Corolla white, 10-15 mm long and diameter; tube usually much longer than calyx; lobes of lower lip 3-5 mm wide, entire, or shallowly emarginate. Anthers red-brown, margins hairy, awns unequal, stout. Capsule more or less equal to calyx, approximately 6-7 x 3-4 mm, oblong to obovate, sparsely setose at apex; seeds numerous, 1-1.5 mm long.
Similar taxa
See ‘Taxonomic Notes’ below.
Flowering
(November-) December – February (-April).
Flower colours
White, Yellow
Fruiting
December - April
Life cycle
Seeds is dispersed by wind and possibly water and ballistic projection (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Etymology
euphrasia: Eye-medicine
revoluta: Rolled back from margins or apex
TAXONOMIC NOTES
Allan (1961) notes: Plants varying markedly in size, habit, leaf-shape, pubescence, and floral characters have hitherto been included under this name, but those matching the type constitute a well-defined and easily recognizable taxon to which the name is here restricted. Most Nelson specimens in E. revoluta folders belong to the closely related Euphrasia townsonii, which differs most obviously in long pedicels and glandular-hairy calyx. Other plants sometimes included are referable rather to Euphrasia laingii, while Euphrasia drucei and Euphrasia petriei are two further segregants from the complex.
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared for NZPCN by M.D. Ward (11 November 2020) Description adapted from Allan (1961).
References and further reading
Allan, H. H. 1961. Flora of New Zealand. Volume 1. Wellington: Government Printer. Page 854.
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
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: Ward, M.D. (Year at time of access): Euphrasia revoluta Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/euphrasia-revoluta/ (Date website was queried)