Lobelia roughii
Common names
scree lobelia, Rough’s Lobelia
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
Flower colours
White
Detailed description
Glabrous herb. Stems and leaves when bruised or broken exuding pale yellow acrid sap. Roots numerous, rather stout, far-spreading; stems and branches tough, ascending through rock-debris; branchlets appearing above surface, up to 100 mm long. Leaves thick, coriaceous, on broad flat petioles circa 5 mm. long. Lamina circa 10-25 x 10-20 mm; obovate to broad-oblong to elliptic in outline, cuneately narrowed to base; coarsely, deeply dentate; teeth very narrow-triangular, blunt, elongating to circa 6 mm. Flowers circa 10 mm long, on stout peduncles up to 50 mm long. Calyx 5-7 mm long, persistent; lobes linear, thick, obtuse, elongating to c. 8 mm in fruit. Corolla white, hardly > calyx, split to near base into 2 lips; upper lip with 2 narrow segments, lower 3-lobed to c. 1/2 way; anthers not awned. Capsule coriaceous, 10-12 mm. long, broad-obovoid to suborbicular
Similar taxa
Recognised by the restriction to rock-debris and scree habitats; much-branched stems; by the elliptic to oblong or obovate deeply incised leaves which are mostly 12 mm long; by the stout peduncles which are up to 50 mm long; and white flowers
Distribution
Endemic. New Zealand: South Island (Marlborough, Canterbury and Otago)
Habitat
Higher montane to subalpine. In rock-debris and stable and mobile screes
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
None (described in 1864)
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
December - April
Fruiting
October - February
Propagation technique
Difficult. Can be grown in a pot or a rock garden. Slow to establish and hard to maintain.
Other information
Where To Buy
Not Commercially Available.
Etymology
lobelia: Named after Lobel, pioneer botanist
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.
LOBROU
Chromosome number
2n = 14
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
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 | At Risk – Regionally Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: DPS, DPT, NR, NS, Sp
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Webb, C.J.; Sykes, W.R.; Garnock-Jones, P.J. 1988: Flora of New Zealand. Vol. IV. DSIR Botany Division, Christchurch.
Attribution
Description modified from Webb et al. (1988).
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.