Pachycladon enysii
Common names
high alpine cress
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
Flower colours
White
Detailed description
Low herb up to 10cm tall. Base of stem fleshy, about 1.5cm diameter, crowned by a rosette of leaves. Leaves toothed, about 4cm long, 1.5cm wide, oblong to spoon-shaped, covered with branched hairs. Flower stems short and branched. Flowers white, 4-petalled, up to 10mm across. Pods narrow-linear, about 2.5-3.5cm long, 2mm wide. Seeds less than 1mm long.
Similar taxa
Pachycladon fastigiata, P. stellata. Leaves in P. enysii have a mix of forked and star-shaped hairs. P. fastigiata leaves are hairless and sharply toothed, P. stellata leaves are shallowly lobed and star-shaped hairs. The flower head in P. enysii is dense and on short stems. Other Pachycladon species have longer flower stems.
Distribution
South Island: north and east of Southern Alps.
Habitat
High alpine rock crevices, on drier mountains.
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.
Please note, threat classifications are often suggested by authors when publications fall between NZTCS assessment periods – these interim threat classification statuses has not been assessed by the NZTCS panel.
- 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 | At Risk – Declining | Qualifiers: Sp, DPS, DPT
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Brassicaceae
Synonyms
Cheesemania enysii (Cheeseman) Schulz, Cardamine enysii Cheeseman, Nasturtium enysii (Cheeseman) Cheesman
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
January - March
Fruiting
March - April
Propagation technique
Difficult and should not be removed from the wild.
Other information
Etymology
enysii: Named in honour of John Davies Enys (1837-1912), a Cornish geologist, biologist and farmer, who owned Castle Hill Station in Canterbury from 1867 to 1891.
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.
PACENY
Previous conservation statuses
2017 | Not Threatened
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Gradual Decline
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Allan HH. 1961. Flora of New Zealand, Volume I. Indigenous Tracheophyta: Psilopsida, Lycopsida, Filicopsida, Gymnospermae, Dicotyledones. Government Printer, Wellington, NZ. 1085 p.
Attribution
Fact Sheet prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange 1 August 2003. Description based on Allan (1961) - as Cheesemania enysii
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): Pachycladon enysii Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/pachycladon-enysii/ (Date website was queried)