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  4. Gratiola concinna

Gratiola concinna

Nelson Lakes National Park.<br>Photographer: Jane Gosden, Date taken: 03/04/2021, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0'>CC BY-NC-SA</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Nelson Lakes National Park.<br>Photographer: Jane Gosden, Date taken: 03/04/2021, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0'>CC BY-NC-SA</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Nelson Lakes National Park.<br>Photographer: Jane Gosden, Date taken: 03/04/2021, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0'>CC BY-NC-SA</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Macraes.<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>
Kuratau Clearing.<br>Photographer: Mike Thorsen, Date taken: 14/03/2013, 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>
Gratiola concinna.<br>Photographer: Shannel Courtney, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>.
Cold Stream, Egmont National Park, Dec 1995.<br>Photographer: Colin C. Ogle, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>.
Cold Stream, Egmont National Park, Dec 1995.<br>Photographer: Colin C. Ogle, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>.
Fiordland.<br>Photographer: Melissa Hutchison, Date taken: 23/01/2023, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Fiordland.<br>Photographer: Melissa Hutchison, Date taken: 23/01/2023, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Kuratau.<br>Photographer: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Date taken: 24/01/2009, 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>
Kuratau.<br>Photographer: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Date taken: 24/01/2009, 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>
Hangatiki Scenic Reserve.<br>Photographer: Peter J. de Lange, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Gordon Park Scenic Reserve near Wanganui.<br>Photographer: Ian and Jocelyn Bell, Date taken: 01/02/2007, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>.
Macraes.<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>
Cold Stream, Egmont National Park. Jan 1996.<br>Photographer: Colin C. Ogle, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>.
Foliage of Gratiola concinna.<br>Photographer: Nicholas J. D. Singers, Licence: All rights reserved.
Kuratau.<br>Photographer: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Date taken: 24/01/2009, 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>
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Biostatus

Native – Endemic taxon

Category

Vascular

Structural class

Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites

Flower colours

Purple, White, Yellow

Detailed description

Procumbent, widely creeping much branched and intertangled perennial herb forming leafy mats; branches slender, rooting at nodes, filiform, usually ascending at apices, up to 200 mm long, 0.7–0.9 mm diameter, dark green, dark green purple-spotted or maroon-red, puberulent to ± glabrescent hairs at apices initially copious, sub-retrorse to patent, eglandular, 0.8–1.1 mm long, soon shedding leaving sparse to abundant subsessile to sessile, viscid, glandular admixed with sparse, longer eglandular hairs on older stems, internodes variable, usually 2.4–4.6 mm, sometimes very widely spaced, especially on longer stems. Leaves fleshy, nerves not evident, sessile, rarely shortly petiolate, petioles 0.8–1.2 mm, glabrous or puberulent, hairs as for stems; lamina 4.0–7.6 × 2.0–5.8 mm, oblong, obovate to suborbicular, apex obtuse, ± obtusely toothed rarely subentire or entire, yellow-green, dark green, usually with purple or maroon blotching or stitch marks near teeth, or rarely with upper lamina surface irregularly maroon spotted, puberulent, hairs mostly sessile to subsessile glandular, admixed with sparse to sometimes copious 0.6–1.0 mm, eglandular hairs. Flowers 10–12 mm long, solitary in bract axils, faintly sweet-scented. Pedicels 2.0–2.5 mm, distal end wider than proximal, puberulent, glabrate, hairs patent, eglandular. Bracteoles 1.2–2.1 × 0.5–1.1 mm, linear-oblong, oblong, apex obtuse to subacute, green with dark maroon apex, puberulent, hairs patent, 0.5–0.8 mm eglandular. Sepals 2–3, free, erect, 0.5–0.8 × 0.2–0.6 mm, narrowly-lanceolate to oblong, acute, green with dark maroon apex, puberulent, hairs patent, 0.3–0.6 mm eglandular. Corolla white, throat yellow or pale pinkish yellow; tube 7.6–8.2 mm long, funnelform, veins 10–16 pale pink or maroon, externally eglandular hairy along veins, hairs patent, 0.3–0.6 mm; inner surface densely covered in tangled, weakly flexuous, eglandular, yellow or pink, hairs 0.4–0.8 mm long; lobes 5, 3.2–4.0 × 4.0–4.6 mm, orbicular to broadly obovate, emarginate, widely spreading to decurved at anthesis, glabrous. Stamens 2, filaments 1.8–2.2 mm, white, anthers 0.4–0.6 mm, white, pollen white; staminodes 1–2, 1.6–1.8 mm, white. Ovary narrowly ellipsoid, 0.3–0.6 × 0.1–0.2 mm, style 1.8–2.0 mm, caducous, stigma rather broadly 3-lobed, perpendicular to style. Capsule ovoid 3.5–4.0 mm diameter, 4-valved, septicidial and loculicidial to base. Seed 0.4–0.7 mm, oblong, narrow-oblong, 2–4-angled, dark brown, surface glossy, deeply reticulate, mucilaginous when fresh.

Similar taxa

The prostrate, widely creeping mat-forming growth habit, usually very hairy stems, small leaves and conspicuous funnelform flowers readily distinguish this species from the three other indigenous Gratiola. New Zealand plants have been confused with the Australian G. nana from which they differ by their oblong, obovate to suborbicular rather than elliptic to narrow-oblong leaves, clear rather than golden glandular hairs, and larger flowers with the bracteoles longer than the sepals.

Distribution

Indigenous. New Zealand: North Island, South Island. Very local, and it has disappeared from many earlier-known sites. Also Australia (uncommon, forms matching the New Zealand plant have only been reliably reported from Tasmania).

Habitat

Muddy hollows in forest clearings, streamsides or in turf at the margins of lakes, rivers or ponds; sometimes aquatic at edge of shallow lakes or rivers.

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 | Threatened – Nationally Vulnerable | Qualifiers: DPR, DPS, DPT, RR

Jump to previous conservation statuses

Threats

Habitat loss through wetland drainage and competition from introduced weeds.

Detailed taxonomy

Family

Plantaginaceae

Authority

Gratiola concinna Colenso

Synonyms

New Zealand plants have been referred to the Australian Gratiola nana Benth.

Taxonomic notes

Gratiola concinna as currently circumscribed is extremely variable and it si possible that more than one entity lurks under that name (see images of this variation in de Lange et al. 2010). Further study of this variation would be worthwhile.

Endemic taxon

Yes

Endemic genus

No

Endemic family

No

Ecology

Flowering

December–February

Fruiting

March–July

Life cycle and dispersal

Mucilaginous seeds are dispersed by water and possibly wind and attachment (Thorsen et al., 2009).

Propagation technique

Easily grow from division of whole plants and fresh seed but short-lived and difficult to maintain over time. Does best if planted in a pot which is then partially submerged in water, and kept in a sunny situation.

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]

FACW: Facultative Wetland

Usually is a hydrophyte but occasionally found in uplands (non-wetlands).

Other information

Plant of the Month

This plant has been featured as a Plant of the Month – see Trilepidea: NZPCN newsletter for August 2020 for the full story.

Etymology

gratiola: Little beauty

concinna: Charming, elegant

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.

GRANAN

Chromosome number

2n = 30

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 | Threatened – Nationally Endangered | Qualifiers: CD, DP, PD, RR

2012 | Threatened – Nationally Vulnerable | Qualifiers: De

2009 | Threatened – Nationally Vulnerable | Qualifiers: De

2004 | Gradual Decline

Jump to current conservation status

Regional conservation statuses

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.

Otago: 2024 | Threatened – Regionally Endangered | Qualifiers: DPS, NStr, PF, RR

Referencing and citations

References and further reading

de Lange PJ, Heenan PB, Norton DA, Rolfe JR, Sawyer JWD. 2010. Threatened Plants of New Zealand. Canterbury University Press, Christchurch. 471 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. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ppees.2009.06.001.

Attribution

Fact Sheet prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange 3 April 2004. Description by P.J. de Lange based on live plants and herbarium specimens—see also de Lange et al. (2010).

NZPCN Fact Sheet citation

Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Gratiola concinna Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/gratiola-concinna/ (Date website was queried)

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