Leucopogon xerampelinus
Common name
Surville Cliffs mingimingi
Synonyms
None (first described in 2003)
Family
Ericaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Native
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Chromosome number
2n = 22
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 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: OL
Previous conservation statuses
2009 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: CD, ST, OL
2004 | Range Restricted
Brief description
Low growing reddish prickly shrub bearing hard narrow sharp leaves and short spikes of small white bell-shaped flowers inhabiting the northern tip of North Island. Leaves 10-25mm long by 1.5-4mm wide. Flowers hairy at top, bell-shaped, 1.5mm wide, in clusters of short spikes along twigs.
Distribution
Endemic. North Island, North Cape & Surville Cliffs only
Habitat
Confined to ultramafic rock and soils where it is a common component of the low windshorn scrub, gullies, cliff faces and talus slopes of that area.
Features
Low-growing sprawling subshrub, usually up to 20 cm tall and up to 1 m diam. Branches and branchlets prostrate to decumbent; branchlets c. 1 mm diam., red-brown, with bifarious pubescence or ± glabrous. Leaves spirally arranged, crowded on stems, usually patent, internodes 1.0– 1.5 mm. Lamina narrow lanceolate to narrow elliptic, 10.0–25.0 x 1.5–4.0 mm, rigid, planar, red-brown, coriaceous, glabrous; apex mucronate, flushed red; veins prominent, usually 5–7 main veins, light red-brown, adaxial surface slightly rugose; margins entire, rarely with a few teeth at distal end; petiole 0.5–1.0 mm long, attenuate, pale green to cream. Inflorescences axillary and terminal, racemose, flowers hermaphrodite. Peduncle up to 10 mm long, puberulent, with 4–9 flowers. Pedicel < 0.25 mm long or absent; bracts and bracteoles usually 3, 0.5–1.0 x 0.5–1.5 mm, green with cream margins, broad-obovate to orbicular, obtuse, mucronulate, margins ciliolate. Sepals 5, 1.5–1.7 x 1.0–1.2 mm, green with cream margins, elliptic to ovate, imbricate; apex subacute, sometimes slightly mucronulate; margin ciliolate. Corolla white; tube 1.0–1.2 mm long, c. 1.5 mm diam., inner surface glabrous, although usually hairy at the distal end where it grades into the corolla lobes; lobes 5, spreading to recurved, 1.2–2.0 mm long, narrow triangular, acute to subacute, densely hairy on inner surface. Filament fused to corolla tube along most of its length, free part 0.8–0.9 mm long, glabrous, translucent-white. Anthers brown, 0.6–0.9 x c.0.3 mm, with a short (0.1–0.2 mm), brown or cream-brown apical appendage. Ovary 0.6 x 0.5 mm, ovoid, green, glabrous; style 0.4–0.5 mm long, attenuate at base; stigma red. Glandular scales five, maroon, 0.3 mm long. Immature fruit c. 3 x c. 2 mm, pink-green, obovate to round, surface with raised membranous ridges.
Similar taxa
Easily distinguished from the allied L. fasciculatus and L. parviflorus by its low sprawling subshrub growth habit, with stems prostrate to decumbent; branchlets that are glabrous or bifariously hairy; red-brown to pinkish-green leaves; and by its restriction to the Surville Serpentinite formation (Surville Cliffs, Te Paki). Within its habitat Leucopogon xerampelinus is sympatric with L. fasciculatus with which it does not appear to form hybrids.
Flowering
September - November
Flower colours
Brown, White
Fruiting
October - April
Life cycle
Fleshy drupes are dispersed by frugivory (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Can be grown from seed and semi-hardwood cuttings. Seed can be tricky and/or slow to germinate and cuttings usually fail to strike as well. However, plants can be easily grown and have no requirement for ultramafic substrates and soils to flourish. An attractive plant that does best in full sun in a free draining soil. When grown in these conditions the pinkish-red to red-brown coloration of the leaves is especially pronounced.
Threats
Not Threatened. One of the most abundant of the Surville Cliff endemics. It is listed only because it is wholly endemic to the 120 ha exposure of serpentinite rock.
Etymology
leucopogon: White beard (the petals are hairy)
Where To Buy
Not commercially available
Attribution
Fact Sheet by P.J. de Lange 14 April 2005. Description from de Lange et al. (2003).
References and further reading
de Lange, P.J.; Heenan, P.B.; Dawson, M.I. 2003: A new species of Leucopogon (Ericaceae) from the Surville Cliffs, North Cape, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 41: 13-21
Citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Leucopogon xerampelinus Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/leucopogon-xerampelinus/ (Date website was queried)