Olearia hectorii
Common names
deciduous tree daisy, Hector’s tree daisy
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Simplified description
Rare small-leaved shrub with wide-angled grooved reddish stems bearing clusters of thin grey-green leaves inhabiting river valleys of the eastern South Island. Leaves 20-50mm long by 5-20 mm wide. Flowers small, yellowish, on drooping 15 mm long stalks, in small groups at base of leaves. Seeds fuzzy.
Flower colours
Yellow
Detailed description
Deciduous shrub or small tree up to 10 m tall. Trunk up to 1 m diam., bark thick, somewhat corky, grey, persistent, deeply marked with longitudinal furrows. Branches one to many, often spreading. Branchlets slender, grooved, glabrescent; bark red, red-brown to bronze-red. Adult leaves 2-4 on short shoots or widely spaced along fast growing branchlets; petioles 5 mm, slender; leaf lamina 20-50 x 5-20 mm, grey-green to green above, silvery-grey beneath, narrow-oblong, oblong-ovate to broadly-ovate, undersides clad in silvery tomentum, upper surface glabrescent; lamina margins flat and entire. Capitula in fascicles of 2-6, 5 x 5 mm; pedicels slender, silky hairy, 15 mm long. Florets 20-25, pale yellow, ray-florets 10-15, narrow, rather short, disc florets 10-15. Phyllaries in 2 series, weakly imbricate, oblong, obtuse, exposed surface pilose hairy. Achenes 1-2 mm, narrow-obovate. Pappus-hairs 3-5 mm long.
Similar taxa
Olearia odorata Petrie and O. fragrantissima Petrie are superficially similar to O. hectorii. From those species O. hectorii can be distinguished by the leaves which are opposite and by its straight branchlets. Olearia fragrantissima has alternate leaves and zigzag twig stems, while O. odorata has narrower, smaller leaves lacking leaf stalks, and is usually a shrub, rarely a small tree. The North Island O. gardneri Heads, though similar differs by the broadly deltoid, truncate, rather than oblanceolate juvenile leaves, by the smaller, distinctly less hairy adult leaves, white rather than yellow flowers, and narrowly lanceolate, toothed, finely hairy phyllaries (bracts surrounding the flowers). The phyllary hairs are long and wavy.
Distribution
Endemic. Eastern South Island.
Habitat
Lowland to subalpine often at the base of steep hills on colluvium, or on alluvium in situations affected by flooding, debris avalanching, water-logging, drought and/or frost.
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 Endangered | Qualifiers: CD, CR, DPT, PD, PF, RF
Threats
This species is seriously threatened by recruitment failure. The seed of this species requires open sites to germinate in, and in most places such sites are scarce due to the presence of introduced grasses and herbs. Very few O. hectorii populations occur on protected land, and many are now dominated by old senescent trees. This species is also susceptible to browsing animals, and because of the dynamic habitats it occupies floods and slips once so critical for this species regeneration is now a serious threat. Isolated plants produce little viable seed.
Detailed taxonomy
Genus
Family
Synonyms
None
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
October - December
Fruiting
December - February
Propagation technique
Can be grown from fresh seed and semi-hardwood cuttings. The strike rate of these can be variable, and best results are obtained from cuttings taken after leaf fall in autumn, and kept in a cold frame over winter.
Other information
Orthography note
Published as hectori but hectorii is correct under the ICBN (International Code of Botanical Nomenclature).
Extra information
Olearia hectori - watch the TVNZ - Meet the Locals (DOC)
Plant of the Month
This plant has been featured as a Plant of the Month – see Trilepidea: NZPCN newsletter for June 2022 for the full story.
Etymology
olearia: Named after Johann Gottfried Olearius, a 17th-century German scholar, writer of hymns and author of Specimen Florae Hallensis
hectorii: Named after Sir James Hector, 19th century New Zealand geologist and botanist who was originally from Scotland
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.
OLEHEC
Chromosome number
2n = 108
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 Endangered | Qualifiers: CD, De, RF
2012 | Threatened – Nationally Endangered | Qualifiers: CD, De, RF
2009 | Threatened – Nationally Endangered | Qualifiers: CD, De, RF
2004 | Threatened – Nationally Vulnerable
Regional conservation statuses
Otago: 2024 | Threatened – Regionally Critical | Qualifiers: CD, NStr, RF, 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 “Regional conservation status of indigenous vascular plants in Otago” Jarvie S et al. (2024) report.
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
de Lange, P.J.; Heenan, P.B.; Norton, D.A.; Rolfe, J.R.; Sawyer, J.W.D. 2010: Threatened Plants of New Zealand. Canterbury University Press, Christchurch.
Heads, M. 1998. Biodiversity in the New Zealand divaricating tree daisies: Olearia sect. nov. (Compositae). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 127(3): 239-285.
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 the NZPCN by P.J. de Lange (14 April 2006). Description by P.B Heenan (adapted from Heads (1998) and subsequently published in de Lange et al. (2010).
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Olearia hectorii Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/olearia-hectorii/ (Date website was queried)