Ourisia confertifolia
Common name
mountain foxglove
Synonyms
None (described in 1984)
Family
Plantaginaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Native
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
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.
OURCON
Chromosome number
2n = 48
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 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: RR, Sp
Previous conservation statuses
2012 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: RR, Sp
2009 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon
2004 | Range Restricted
Distribution
Endemic. South Island westerly from Haast Pass south to Fiordland
Habitat
Alpine (1200 - 2200 m a.s.l.) on soil or bare rock, boulders, cliff faces and rock crevices or in open herbfield and tussock grassland.
Features
Perennial herbs 35-88 mm tall, with erect inflorescences and repent leaves; stems 2.3-4.3 mm diameter; internodes 1.2-6.3 mm long, glabrous. Leaves rosulate, congested, rarely in subrosettes or opposite on creeping stem; petiole 3.5-15.0 x 1.6-8.6 mm, glabrescent, bearing sparse glandular/eglandular hairs on margins only; lamina 4.8-15.3 x 5.5-16.3 mm, spathulate, broadly to very broadly obovate, apex rounded, base cuneate, tapering with wide petiole, margin crenate or notched, upper surface glandular/eglandular silky-hairy, undersides punctate, glabrescent, with sparse glandular/eglandular hairs on the prominent veins. Inflorescences 1-6-flowered raceme, 35-105 mm long, bracteate bearing 1-3- flowering nodes, each bearing 2 bracts and 1-2 flowers; peduncles 0.9-2.3 mm diameter, glandular/eglandular pilose, villous. Floral bracts up to 7.7-12.6 x 3.8-7.6 mm, sessile, parallel to, and clasping peduncle, oblanceolate to broadly obovate, margin with regular to irregular notches near apex, densely glandular/eglandular pilose, villous. Flowers 11.8-19.3 x 9.4-16.5 mm; pedicel 7.5-20.3 mm long, glandular/eglandular pilose to villous. Calyx 5.5-8.8 x 4.5-11.3 mm, irregular, externally and on margins glandular/eglandular villous; anterior calyx lobes 4.6-9.4 x 1.9-3.9 mm, posterior calyx lobes 1.1-2.0 x 1.3-2.9 mm, 3 posterior lobes divided 1.4 the length of the calyx or less, 2 anterior lobes divided to near base, lanceolate to narrowly ovate, tapering to a subacute or rounded apex, undersides prominently 3-veined. Corolla 14.5-19.4 x 17.7-20.6 mm when flattened, bilabiate, tubular-funnelform, straight or curved, white, glabrous externally; tube 4.8-11.0 x 4.4-6.4 mm at apex, 2.0-3.9 mm at base, not constricted near base, yellow inside, glabrous; anterior corolla lobes 6.8-9.6 x 3.3-7.3 mm at widest point, 1.8-3.0 mm wide at base, posterior corolla lobes 5.5-7.3 x 2.7-6.1 mm wide at widest point, 1.7-3.0 mm wide at base, spreading, obovate apex plane, sometimes undulate or irregular. Stamens 4, didynamous; comprising two long stamens 6.1-7.6 mm long, included or exserted, and two short stamens 3.8-6.0 mm long, included or equal with lip; anthers 0.6-1.8 x 0.7-1.6 mm, reniform to horseshoe-shaped; staminode c.0.2 mm long, inserted c.0.1 mm above base of corolla, or absent. Style 3.2-4.8 mm long, base slightly bent, included or slightly exserted; stigma 0.4-1.0 mm diameter, emarginate; ovary 2.6-4.6 x 1.8-3.7 mm, glabrous. Capsules 4.5-7.1 x 3.3-4.8 mm, glabrous, with loculicidal dehiscence; fruiting pedicels 15.1-21.6 mm long. Seeds 0.7-1.0 x 0.4-0.5 mm.
Similar taxa
From all other Ourisia except O. simpsonii (L.B.Moore) Arroyo, it differs by the yellow, glabrous internal corolla tube, irregular calyces, glabrous leaf undersides, bracts, and paired flowers (which are never in whorls) in each flowering node. From O. simpsonii it differs by the smaller, narrower flowers and shorter styles (up to 4.9 cf. up to 7.5 mm). The corolla tube of O. simpsonii is sometimes purple (externally and internally), a colour never seen in O. confertifolia. Both species are allopatric, with O. simpsonii restricted to the northern half of the South Island and O. confertifolia the southern third.
Flowering
November - February
Flower colours
White
Fruiting
January - May
Propagation technique
Difficult - should not be removed from the wild
Threats
Not Threatened. Listed because it is considered to be a localised endemic.
Etymology
ourisia: After Ouris, governor of the Falkland Islands
Where To Buy
Not commercially available
Attribution
Description based on Meudt (2006).
References and further reading
Meudt, H.M. 2006: Monograph of Ourisia (Plantaginaceae), Systematic Botany Monographs 77. 188pp.