Isolepis aucklandica
Biostatus
Native
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Sedges
Detailed description
Widely creeping, bright green, leafy, rhizomatous sedge forming large, turfy patches. Rhizome c. 0.5 mm. diameter. Culms 10.0–80.0 × c. 0.5 mm, bright green above, red-brown towards the base, rigid. Leaves up to 6 per culm, usually > culms, c. 0.5 mm wide, or often setaceous and filiform, coriaceous, curved; sheaths with truncate orifice, pale brown and membranous, often streaked with red, rarely entirely dark red-purple. Inflorescence apparently lateral, of 1–2 narrow-oblong spikelets, 1.0–4.0 × 0.5–2 mm, partly hidden by the enlarged base of a subtending bract up to 5 times length of spikelet. Glumes 1.5–2.5 mm long, lanceolate, acute, caducous, green to pale grey-brown with reddish marks or deep red-purple, margins tapered and often pinched in at the tip below the green, thickened, ± excurrent keel. Hypogynous bristles 0. Stamens 3. Style-branches 3. Nut 1–2 mm long, slightly > 0.5 mm wide, almost = glume, elliptical, ± trigonous with rounded angles, almost white to yellowish, or grey- to red-brown, smooth and shining but very finely reticulate, tapering towards the apiculate black tip.
Similar taxa
Isolepis aucklandica is easily distinguished by its bright green colour; leaves mostly > culms; 3 stamens per glume (rarely 1–2 in upper portion of spikelet); by the glume-margins and nut tapering toward the tip; and by the cream nut.
Distribution
Indigenous. New Zealand: North, South, Stewart, Antipodes, Auckland, Campbell, Macquarie Islands. Also in Australia.
Habitat
Coastal to alpine (up to 1300 m a.s.l.). Mostly montane in the northern part of its range. A species of boggy ground in forest as well as wetlands, often growing on peaty turf on forest margins or on permanently damp rock shelves or seepages in forest.
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
Cyperaceae
Synonyms
Isolepis subcucullata Bergg.; Isolepis cartilaginea var. rigida Bergg.; Scirpus aucklandicus (Hook.f.) Boeck; S. aucklandicus var. subcucullata (Bergg.) C.B. Clarke; Scirpus muscosus Kirk;
Endemic taxon
No
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
October–December
Fruiting
November–May
Life cycle and dispersal
Nuts are dispersed by water and possibly granivory and attachment (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Easily grown from fresh seed and by division of established plants. Requires a permanently moist, acidic soil to flourish. Best grown in partial to full shade.
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
Etymology
isolepis: From the Greek isos (equal) and lepis (scale)
aucklandica: Of the Auckland Islands
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.
ISOAUC
Chromosome number
2n = 42
Previous conservation statuses
2017 | Not Threatened | Qualifiers: SO
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Johnson AT, Smith HA. 1986. Plant Names Simplified: Their pronunciation, derivation and meaning. Landsman Bookshop Ltd, Buckenhill, UK.
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.