Montia erythrophylla
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
Flower colours
Red/Pink, White
Detailed description
Herb up to 200 mm diameter, forming loose to compact mats. Leaves up to 35 x 3.2 mm, spathulate; lamina narrowly elliptic to elliptic; both leaf surfaces red-brown to red, dull; undersides with flat surfaces or sometimes slightly concave; upper surface flat or slightly convex; apex obtuse; base attenuate; petiole often distinct but grading into lamina base; old leaves orange to orange-yellow. Involucral leaves 3.0-3.5 x 3.2-3.5 mm, red-brown; lateral fold absent or indistinct; apex obtuse. Flower 9.5-14 mm diameter. Tepals 4.8-7.9 x 2.3-4.6 mm, broadly elliptic to obovate, white in bud and at maturity - usually flushed pink, not overlapping; apex obtuse, rarely notched; claw weakly differentiated. Nectary green. Filaments 2.8-3.8 mm long, slightly > or more or less equal 1/2 tepal length, white. Anthers 0.7-0.8 x 0.3-0.4 mm, pink to pink-red. Ovary 0.9-1.2 x 0.8-1 mm, obovoid, red-green to brown-green; sutures not prominent. Style 2.4-3.1 mm long; white with base flushed green. Stigmatic branches 1.2-1.6 mm long, white, 2.1 mm. Seeds 1.4-1.7 x 1.2-1.6 mm, slightly to moderately rugose, dark brown, red-brown to black.
Similar taxa
A well marked species whose consistently dull reddish spathulate, flat leaves up to 3.2 mm wide, with distinct petioles, and pink to pink-red anthers readily distinguish this species for the other indigenous members of the genus. It is perhaps closest to N. racemosa (Buchanan) Heenan an ultramafic endemic which differs by its glossy, linear leaves up to 1.8 mm wide, coloured brown to green-brown, with indistinct petioles and cream anthers.
Distribution
Endemic. South island, easterly along the main divide from Marlborough to Canterbury
Habitat
A scree species where it usually grows in fine-grained, more stable, moist screes, and in gravel, debris slopes and on or near rock outcrops.
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 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: Sp, DPS, DPT, RR
Threats
Not threatened but quite uncommon though widely and naturally sparsely distributed.
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Montiaceae
Synonyms
Neopaxia erythrophylla Heenan; Previously all the New Zealand Neopaxia had been known as Neopaxia australasica (Hook.f.) O.Nilsson which is now regarded as an Australian endemic
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
November-January
Fruiting
December-March
Propagation technique
Difficult - should not be removed from the wild
Other information
Etymology
montia: Named after the Italian botanist, Giuseppe Monti (1682-1760);
Chromosome number
2n = c.85
Previous conservation statuses
2017 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: DP, RR, Sp
2012 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: RR, Sp
2009 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: DP
2004 | Sparse
Referencing and citations
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): Montia erythrophylla Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/montia-erythrophylla/ (Date website was queried)