Pimelea actea
Common names
pimelea
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Simplified description
Low growing shrub bearing a few erect twigs to 50cm tall with spaced pairs of small rounded blue-green leaves inhabiting damp sand dunes near Himatangi. Twigs hairy. Leaves to 5.5mm long. Flowers usually present, white, body hairy, both male and female parts present, in clusters. Fruit white.
Flower colours
White
Detailed description
Small, sparingly branched shrublets up to 500 mm tall. Branches erect to suberect, whip-like, often devoid of leaves for basal 2/3 of stem. Root system small and weak. Young branchlets sparsely hairy in leaf axils and on receptacle, sometimes with well-defined narrow bands of short hair along the full length of the internode; older stems hairless, initially purple-black fading to grey-brown. Node buttresses smooth, brown, and occupy the whole internode or forming hairless strips, sometimes prominent on leafless stems. Internode length less than or equal to 3.0 mm. Leaves decussate, ascendant, becoming patent, persistent, on short (0.5–0.8 mm) red petioles; lamina glabrous, pale green to glaucous-green, .03–5.5 × 1.2–3.5 mm, elliptic to slightly obovate, slightly adaxially concave, obtuse, base cuneate to truncate. Stomata evident only on upper surface. Inflorescences terminal on branchlets, loose, 3–11-flowered. Involucral bracts 4, broad elliptic to ovate (6 × 3 mm) partly hiding the flowers. Plants bisexual. Flowers white, on short pedicels (0.8 mm); tube and calyx lobes moderately hairy outside, inside glabrous, or rarely with sparse hair near the mouth; tube to 3 mm long, ovary portion 1 mm long, calyx lobes 1.3 × 1.0 mm. Anther filaments inserted at mouth of tube, Anthers yellow. Ovary with a few hairs at summit. Fruits globose, fleshy, translucent white, 5.0 × 4.5 mm. The hypanthium shedding irregularly, near the base as the fruits ripen. Seeds narrow-pyriform, with very thin crest 2.8 × 1.7 mm
Similar taxa
Distinguished from all other New Zealand Pimelea by its more or less continuous flowering and easily germinated seeds. It is part of the P. prostrata – P. urvilleana complex from whose members it is easily distinguished by the bisexual flowers, sparingly branched growth habit, slender (whip-like), erect to suberect stems and translucent fruits. Pimelea actea is morphologically similar to P. xenica which differs by its suberect, sprawling habit, more frequent branching and flat leaves which are tightly curled when dry. Pimelea xenica is also ecologically distinct being confined to heathland, gum land, grassland on heavily leached or weather mature soils; it is known only from the northern North Island, extending as far south as the Hawke’s Bay.
Distribution
Endemic. New Zealand: North Island (Wanganui – Manawatu – formerly at Turakina River Mouth and Foxton Beach; now known only from Himatangi Beach and possibly still at Castlecliff Beach), South Island, ( there is an historic gathering of this species from “Sand Flats near Christchurch”)
Habitat
A species of sand country where it grows on sand flats and dune slacks periodically inundated with fresh to brackish water in winter–spring. It has also been collected growing in sand pockets on an old mudstone slump on sea cliffs
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 Critical | Qualifiers: DPT, OL
Threats
Pimelea actea as Pimelea (a) (CHR 495025; Turakina) was assessed as Nationally Critical by de Lange et al. (2004) and de Lange et al. (2009). The species remains seriously threatened and facing imminent extinction. The sole surviving natural population is known only from private land, is very small, subjected to frequent trampling by horses and other livestock, subject to weed invasion and at constant risk of being overwhelmed by sand. At Castlecliff, this species was known from very few plants at three sites, and recent surveys suggest it may now be extinct there.
Detailed taxonomy
Genus
Family
Synonyms
None (first described in 2008)
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
September - May
Fruiting
November - June
Propagation technique
Easily grown from seed and cuttings. An unusual and rather attractive plant for a small garden, rockery or planted in a pot. Cultivation, in the short-term at least may help prevent this species from going extinct. Most cultivated material stems from plants collected by P. J. de Lange from Himatangi in 1991 and cultivated initially at Percy Reserve, Petone.
Other information
Etymology
pimelea: Pimeleoides means “resembling Pimelea’’, a genus in the family Thymelaeaceae (Greek, -oides = resembling, like).
Chromosome number
2n = 36
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 Critical | Qualifiers: OL
2012 | Threatened – Nationally Critical | Qualifiers: OL
2009 | Threatened – Nationally Critical | Qualifiers: CD, OL
2004 | Threatened – Nationally Critical
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
de Lange, P.J.; Norton, D.A.; Heenan, P.B.; Courtney, S.P.; Molloy, B.P.J.; Ogle, C.C.; Rance, B.D.; Johnson, P.N.; Hitchmough, R. 2004: Threatened and uncommon plants of New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 42: 45-76.
de Lange, P.J.; Norton, D.A.; Courtney, S.P.; Heenan, P.B.; Barkla, J.W.; Cameron, E.K.; Hitchmough, R.; Townsend, A.J. 2009: Threatened and uncommon plants of New Zealand (2008 revision). New Zealand Journal of Botany 47: 61-96.
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange (30 September 2008). Description adapted from Burrows (2008).
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Pimelea actea Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/pimelea-actea/ (Date website was queried)