Parietaria debilis
Common names
New Zealand pellitory
Biostatus
Native
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
Flower colours
Green
Detailed description
Succulent-stemmed, spreading, flaccid to erect, diffuse, sparsely pubescent, annual herb forming solitary stems or tufted patches up to 500 mm diameter. Branches succulent, slender, weakly erect to erect, up to 800 mm long, pale green, translucent white or pale pink, usually hardened at base. Leaves membranous, mostly thin and delicate in shaded sites and subsucculent in exposed sites growing on guano. Petiole filiform to subterete, 10–60 mm long. Lamina 10–60 × 10–30 mm, pale green to dark green above, paler below (very rarely pink-tinged), suborbicular, broad-ovate, rhomboic-ovate, base cuneately narrowed, apex obtuse to weakly acuminate. Inflorescence a greenish-white, congested 2–8-flowered cyme; bracteoles linear, bracteoles equal to or more usually larger than perianth at fruiting; perianth-segments more or less pilose, pistillate enlarged in fruit. Achenes 1.0–1.5 mm long, dark glossy brown, ovoid.
Similar taxa
Distinguished from the two naturalised pellitories (Parietaria judaica and P. officinalis) by its annual growth habit, petioles usually longer than the leaf blade; and by the bracteoles which are equal to or greater in length than the perianth at fruiting. Parieteria debilis leaves are often very thin and membranous, and wilt easily once picking, but this is not a diagnostic character for plants of this species which grow in richly manured soils in exposed coastal situations, as these plants may have very fleshy succulent leaves. As a rule P. debilis is a pale green to dark green colour, while the other two naturalised species often have red or pink-pigmented stems and leaves. However, sometimes these colours are seen in Parietaria debilis as well.
Distribution
Indigenous. New Zealand: Kermadec (Raoul, Macauley), Manawatāwhi / Three Kings Islands, North Island, South Island, Chatham Islands. Present throughout the southern hemisphere.
Habitat
Coastal and lowland. Usually in coastal scrub and forest (often found within canopy gaps or around petrel or shearwater burrows), or under rock overhangs or amongst flax. Sometimes growing in the open on exposed rock stacks or in sand dunes. Also found on inland limestone.
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 | Not Threatened | Qualifiers: SO
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Urticaceae
Synonyms
None (first described in 1786)
Endemic taxon
No
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
Throughout the year
Fruiting
Throughout the year
Propagation technique
Easily grown from fresh seed, soft wood cuttings and rooted pieces. However, not an especially attractive plant and unlikely to be widely cultivated. It is rather variable with respect to leaf shape and there is some genetic basis to this variation worth exploring. For example Chatham Island plants often have very small (10 × 10 mm) suborbicular leaves, which are retained in cultivation.
Other information
Where To Buy
Not commercially available.
Etymology
debilis: Weak
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.
PARDEB
Chromosome number
2n = 16
Previous conservation statuses
2017 | Not Threatened | Qualifiers: SO
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
Referencing and citations
Attribution
Description based on live plants and herbarium specimens.