Gaimardia setacea
Common names
gaimardia
Biostatus
Native
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Monocots
Detailed description
Compact, dark brown, occasionally glaucescent herb forming cushions up to 900 mm across. Roots fibrous. Stems 20–80 mm long, erect, wiry. Leaves 5–20 mm long, leaves, naked, terminated by 2–3 alternate glume-like, minutely papillate bracts; each bract enclosing 1 pseudanthium only, the third or uppermost bract sterile; hyaline scales 0. Male flowers 2 in each pseudanthium. Female flowers 2 in each pseudanthium, styles not connate; occasionally with one ovary aborting. Fruit slightly > 0.5 mm. long, oblong-ovoid, surface faintly and irregularly reticulate.
Similar taxa
Distinguished from Centrolepis Labill. by have two male flowers per pseudanthium; two fused and collateral female flowers; two-three, distinctly alternate, glume-like floral bracts and opaque, light-brown leaf-sheaths.
Distribution
Indigenous. New Zealand: South Island and Stewart Island/Rakiura. Also in New Guinea and Tasmania.
Habitat
In the South Island strictly montane to alpine in bogs. On Stewart Island in similar sites but at lower elevations as well as alpine.
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 | Qualifiers: SO
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Restionaceae
Synonyms
None
Endemic taxon
No
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
November–January
Fruiting
January–March
Life cycle and dispersal
Seeds are dispersed by water (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Difficult. Should not be removed from the wild.
Wetland plant indicator status rating
Information derived from the revised national wetland plant list prepared to assist councils in delineating and monitoring wetlands (Clarkson et al., 2021 Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research Contract Report LC3975 for Hawke’s Bay Regional Council). The national plant list categorises plants by the extent to which they are found in wetlands and not ‘drylands’. The indicator status ratings are OBL (obligate wetland), FACW (facultative wetland), FAC (facultative), FACU (facultative upland), and UPL (obligate upland). If you have suggestions for the Wetland Indicator Status Rating, please contact: [Enable JavaScript to view protected content]
OBL: Obligate Wetland
Almost always is a hydrophyte, rarely in uplands (non-wetlands).
Other information
Where To Buy
Not Commercially Available.
Etymology
gaimardia: After Gaimard
setacea: Bristly
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.
GAISET
Previous conservation statuses
2017 | Not Threatened | Qualifiers: SO
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Moore LB, Edgar E. 1970. Flora of New Zealand, Volume II. Indigenous Tracheophyta: Monocotyledones except Gramineae. Government Printer, Wellington, NZ. 354 p.
Thorsen MJ, Dickinson KJM, Seddon PJ. 2009. Seed dispersal systems in the New Zealand flora. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 11: 285–309.
Attribution
Description adapted from Moore and Edgar (1970).
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.