Montigena novae-zelandiae
Common names
Scree pea
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
Flower colours
Red/Pink, Violet/Purple
Detailed description
Small woody sub-shrub arising from thin, branched stems that extend to the surface from a deeply buried root stock. Foliage a dull green, leafy tufts, 30-70mm long, 10-60mm wide. Leaves divided, 20-35mm long. Leaflets in 6-10 pairs per leaf, usually folded along the mid-rib; fleshy, grey-green or grey-blue and sometimes flushed red. Flowers in bunches, purplish, clover-pink or golden-brown, arising from axils of older leaves. Seed pods swollen, darkening to orange-red at maturity, grey brown when open. Seeds 10 per pod, 3.5mm long, 3mm wide, brown.
Similar taxa
None. Large bloated sausage-shaped seed pods, fern-like leaf form.
Distribution
South Island, east of Southern Alps.
Habitat
Subalpine to low alpine, on fine-grained, partially stable and moist greywacke scree, rock debris and gravel slopes. Sometimes in depleted tussock grasslands.
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 | Threatened – Nationally Vulnerable | Qualifiers: Sp, DPS, DPT, RF
Detailed taxonomy
Genus
Family
Synonyms
Swainsona novae-zelandiae Hook.f. var. novae-zelandiae, Swainsona novae-zelandiae var. glabra G.Simpson
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
Yes
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
December - February
Fruiting
January - April
Propagation technique
Difficult and should not be removed from the wild.
Other information
Etymology
montigena: Mountain-born
novae-zelandiae: Of New Zealand
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.
MONNOV
Chromosome number
2n = 32
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 | At Risk – Declining | Qualifiers: RF, Sp
2012 | At Risk – Declining | Qualifiers: RF, Sp
2009 | At Risk – Declining | Qualifiers: RF, Sp
2004 | Gradual Decline
Regional conservation statuses
Otago: 2025 | Regionally Threatened – Regionally Endangered | Qualifiers: DPS, DPT, NR, PF, RR, TL
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 “Conservation Status of Indigenous Vascular Plants in Otago, 2025” Jarvie S et al. (2025) report.
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Allan, H.H. 1961: Flora of New Zealand. Vol. I. Wellington, Government Printer.
Heenan, P.B. 1998: Montigena (Fabaceae), a new genus endemic to New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 36(1): 41-51.
Hooker, J.D. 1864: Handbook of the New Zealand Flora: a systematic description of the native plants of New Zealand and the Chatham, Kermadec’s, Lord Auckland’s, Campbell’s and Macquarie’s Islands. Part I ed. London, Reeve. 392 pp.
Attribution
Fact Sheet prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange (1 August 2003). Description based on Allan (1961) - as Swainsona novae-zelandiae (see Hooker 1864).
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.