Myosotis laeta
Common name
Red Hills forget-me-not
Synonyms
None
Family
Boraginaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Native
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
Chromosome number
2n = 46
Current conservation status
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2017 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes a statistical summary and brief notes on changes since 2012 and replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants.
Please note, threat classifications are often suggested by authors when publications fall between NZTCS assessment periods – an interim threat classification status has not been assessed by the NZTCS panel.
- Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017 . 2018. Peter J. de Lange, Jeremy R. Rolfe, John W. Barkla, Shannel P. Courtney, Paul D. Champion, Leon R. Perrie, Sarah M. Beadel, Kerry A. Ford, Ilse Breitwieser, Ines Schönberger, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Peter B. Heenan and Kate Ladley. Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2017 | Threatened – Nationally Endangered | Qualifiers: DP, RR, RF, St
Previous conservation statuses
2012 | Threatened – Nationally Endangered | Qualifiers: RR, St
2009 | Threatened – Nationally Critical | Qualifiers: DP, St
2004 | Range Restricted
Distribution
Endemic. New Zealand: South Island (Red Hills)
Habitat
An ultramafic endemic confined to montane habitats where it grows in rock strewn ground amongst Chionochloa defracta tussock grassland and until recently at another site within a sparse kahikatoa (Leptospermum scoparium) shrubland.
Detailed description
Dark reddish-green perennial herb. Rosette-leaves few, 20-50 × 5-9 mm, narrow-spathulate, apex acute, apiculate, basally attenuate, gradually tapering into winged petiole 10-45 mm long, followed by a broad sheathing base; hairs fine, silky, scarcely overlapping, appressed to spreading, distinctly retrorse on undersides, with the hairs of the leaf margins and sheathing leaf-base distinctly longer than those of the rest of the leaf. Lateral branches numerous, widely spreading, at first suberect, soon erect, up to 200 mm, internodes > leaves, with hairs fringing margins. Stem-leaves few, clearly distinct from rosette-leaves, c. 8 × 3 mm., narrow-oblong, sessile, acute; hairs fine and silky on upper surface, coarser and sparser on undersides, long and fringing on margin. Cymes simple, ebracteate, c.12-15-flowered, c.50-80 mm long; internodes> calyx in fruit; pedicels up to 4 mm long. Calyx 3-4 mm long, lobes > ½ length, narrow, subacute; hairs on lobes long, flexuous, basally in mixtures of shorter, appressed and longer hooked ones. Corolla white with a yellow eye, c.8-10 mm diameter, tube funnelform and c.5 mm long with scales set well above level of calyx-tips, lobes c.3.0 × 2.5 mm, ± oblong; filaments fixed about level of scales, > anthers and carrying them well above scales to level of lobes, anthers 1.1-1.3 mm long; style » calyx in fruit, stigma capitate. Nutlets ovoid, pale-brown.
Similar taxa
An ultramafic endemic known only from one site on the Red Hills, above the Wairau River, Marlborough. In the field it is easily distinguished from the only other common reddish coloured forget-me-not present in that area Myosotis monroi. That species has yellow not white flowers borne on compact rather than elongated inflorescences, and the leaf hairs are sparse, uniformly short, stiff and closely appressed, rather than fine and silky, and retrorse on the leaf undersides.
Flowering
December - February
Flower colours
White, Yellow
Fruiting
December - April
Propagation technique
Difficult. Should not be removed from the wild.
Threats
The only recently confirmed population occurs within habitat threatened to a degree through despoilation by 4-wheel drivers (this threat has been curbed to some extent by the erection of a vehicle barrier). Wilding pines are a major threat to the whole of the Red Hills. Potential threats include deer and goats though as yet there has been no evidence of browsing pressure on the Myosotis from these animals.
Etymology
myosotis: Mouse-eared
laeta: Happy or vivid
Where To Buy
Not commercially available.
Attribution
Fact Sheet prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange (1 February 2008). Description based on herbarium specimens.
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Myosotis laeta Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/myosotis-laeta/ (Date website was queried)