Libertia grandiflora
Common names
mikoikoi, NZ iris
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Monocots
Flower colours
White, Yellow
Detailed description
Plants consisting of leafy fans, closely bunched on short, highly branched rhizomes, joined by short stolons. Leaves 100–1400 × 2–12 mm, the two surfaces similar; leaf bases pink-green; nerves many, median ones may be crowded to sometimes form a midrib; margins often finely scabrid; leaf in transverse section convex lens-shaped, with two rows of vascular bundles present centrally, marginal vascular bundle present, sclerenchyma present on inside of leaf sheath. Inflorescences long, usually carrying flowers above leaves; peduncles also long. Panicle broad, much and openly branched, lower bracts long (40–130 mm), green and lanceolate, upper bracts narrow and pale brown, occurring singly; 1–6 flowers per branch. Pedicels slender but stiff, 10–50 mm long, glabrous. Perianth bud often pigmented externally, equal to or twice as long as ovary, flowers 10–30 mm diameter; tepals all white internally, widely patent; outer tepals < ½ of inner, narrower, oblong-elliptical, boat-shaped, with apiculus; inner tepals, unguiculate, distal portion orbicular and often overlapping outer tepals, cleft present at tips. Staminal filaments shortly connate; anthers c. 3 mm long, bright yellow. Ovary pyriform, small compared with perianth bud; style branches scarcely winged, pointing upwards. Capsule 6 –14 mm ¥ 4–8 mm, tear-drop shaped, green, turning to black on maturity, fully dehiscing by shorter or longer loculicidal splitting, the longer valves often widely recurved. Seeds c. 1.0–2.0 × 1.0–1.5 mm, rounded or sometimes angular if crowded, bright tangerine orange.
Similar taxa
The large orbicular petals, small boat-shaped sepals, and inflorescences which usually overtop the leaf tips separates L. grandiflora from all other New Zealand taxa. L. grandiflora differs from L. mooreae by leaf length, the lack of red-purple leaf bases, fully dehiscent capsules, bright orange seeds, and in cross-section by the lens-shaped leaves which have marginal vascular bundles. It differs from L. peregrinans, L. cranwelliae, and L. edgariae by the lack of elongated rhizomes, from L. ixioides by the petal and sepal shape, and the taller inflorescences, and from L. micrantha by the taller stature and much larger flowers.
Distribution
Endemic. New Zealand: North Island (Te Paki to Wellington but seemingly absent from the Volcanic plateau)
Habitat
Coastal to montane. Usually in open, lowland forest remnants, forest margins, on steep slopes, ridgelines, bluffs, cliffs, stream banks, and river terraces.
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 | Not Threatened
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Synonyms
Renealmia grandiflora R.Br.; Libertia orbicularis Col.
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
September – November
Fruiting
December – April
Life cycle and dispersal
Seeds are possibly dispersed by wind (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Easily grown from fresh seed and by the division of established plants, and tolerant of a wide range of situations - except permanently water logged soils. Libertia grandiflora is an attractive plant that deserves to be more widely cultivated that it is.
Other information
Etymology
libertia: Named after Marie-Anne Libert, (1782-1865) born & died in Malmedy, province of Liège, Belgium; botanist and mycologist
grandiflora: Large flowered
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.
LIBGRA
Chromosome number
2n = 114
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 | Not Threatened
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
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
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared by P.J. de Lange for NZPCN (1 June 2013)
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Libertia grandiflora Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/libertia-grandiflora/ (Date website was queried)