Myosotis albosericea
Common names
Yellow forget-me-not
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
Flower colours
Yellow
Detailed description
Tufted, perennial herb, producing one or more white-hairy rosettes. Leaves numerous, narrow-spathulate, 30 x 30 mm, apex sub acute, all parts covered in silky silvery-white hairs all of one type, uniformly stiff, straight, appressed, imbricating so as to hide leaf surface entirely. Lateral branches few, erect, up to 150 mm. Stem leaves sparse, upper ones sessile, narrow-oblong, 6 x 2 mm, apex sub acute. Inflorescence a simple, terminal cyme. Calyx 3 mm long, lobes > half length, narrow, acute. Corolla yellow, 5 mm diam., tube 4-5 mm, flaring toward top, corolla lobes 2.5 x 1.5 mm, oblong, filaments short, anther-tips below to just above scales; style » calyx in fruit,. Nutlets ovate, pointed and keeled, 1.7-2.1 x 1-1.1 mm long.
Similar taxa
A very distinctive species whose grey hairy foliage, branches, inflorescence stems and large yellow flowers readily distinguish it from all other New Zealand Myosotis species.
Distribution
Endemic. South Island, Central Otago, southern Dunstan Range.
Habitat
Alpine. Amongst schist boulders in shade of rock tors.
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 Critical | Qualifiers: OL
Threats
As far as is known this species has always been confined to a small portion of the Dunstan Range above the Kawarau River, near Cromwell. At present just the one population is known (and in fact this may be the same population as that discovered originally by John Buchanan and James Hector). That population has been regularly monitored for the greater part of 30 years, and seems to be stable. Nevertheless because the species is known from just the one site, within an area of < 1 ha it qualifies as Nationally Critical.
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Synonyms
None
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
November - January
Fruiting
January - April
Propagation technique
Difficult. Should not be removed from the wild.
Other information
Cultivation
A few plants are held by specialist growers. Very difficult to maintain in cultivation.
Plant of the Month
This plant has been featured as a Plant of the Month – see Trilepidea: NZPCN newsletter for April 2015 for the full story.
Etymology
myosotis: Mouse-eared
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 | Threatened – Nationally Critical | Qualifiers: OL
2012 | Threatened – Nationally Critical | Qualifiers: OL, Sp
2009 | Threatened – Nationally Critical | Qualifiers: OL, Sp
2004 | Threatened – Nationally Critical
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 | Threatened – Regionally Critical | Qualifiers: NS, NStr, OL, RE, St, TL
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Allan, H.H. 1961: Flora of New Zealand. Vol. I, Government Printer, Wellington
Attribution
Fact Sheet prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange 1 February 2008. Description based on Allan (1961).
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.
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Myosotis albosericea Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/myosotis-albosericea/ (Date website was queried)