Myosotis angustata
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
Flower colours
White
Detailed description
Tufted, perennial, grey-green, rosette forming herb. Rosette-leaves 20 x 4 mm, linear-spathulate, apex sub acute. Leaf-hairs coarse, of two types, small and long, these usually appressed, overlapping. Lateral branches few, ascending to erect, up to 150 mm long in fruiting specimens, internodes < leaves. Stem-leaves 15-20 x 2-4 mm, linear to narrow-oblong, apex sub acute, hairs as for rosette-leaves. Inflorescence simple, sometimes branched, compact terminal cyme, 10-20 mm long when in flower, elongating to 50 mm when in fruit. Calyx 5-8 mm, lobes cut to half calyx length, sub acute; hairs on lobes long, straight and numerous, towards base changing to long and hooked with an underlayer of short, straight, appressed hairs. Corolla white, 7 mm diam., tube 5-6(-8-10) mm, cylindric, corolla lobes 2.5 x 2.5 mm, broad-oblong; filaments fixed between small scales, about length of anthers.
Similar taxa
Could be confused with M. traversii Hook.f. (var. traversii and var. cantabrica L.B.Moore). These have their anthers partly included within the corolla-tube, while the hairs on the undersurfaces of the rosette leaves are retrorse, and the long hairs of the calyces are all or almost all hooked. M. traversii var. traversii is known from scree in Kahurangi National Park.
Distribution
Endemic. South Island, North West Nelson, Kahurangi National Park, Mt Arthur.
Habitat
Alpine. On shaded marble outcrops and associated talus.
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: DPT, RR
Threats
Apparently confined to single location in Kahurangi National Park. At this location although the species appears to be genuinely uncommon, indications are that the population is stable. The species qualifies for Nationally Critical because the total area of occupancy is < 1 ha.
Detailed taxonomy
Genus
Family
Synonyms
None
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
December - February
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.
Etymology
myosotis: Mouse-eared
angustata: From the Latin angustatus ‘narrowed’
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: DP, RR
2012 | Threatened – Nationally Critical | Qualifiers: RR, St
2009 | Threatened – Nationally Critical | Qualifiers: St, OL
2004 | Threatened – Nationally Critical
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.