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  4. Pimelea gnidia

Pimelea gnidia

Turnbull, Tararua Range.<br>Photographer: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Date taken: 13/12/2008, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Turnbull, Tararua Range.<br>Photographer: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Date taken: 13/12/2008, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Turnbull, Tararua Range.<br>Photographer: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Date taken: 13/12/2008, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Turnbull, Tararua Range.<br>Photographer: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Date taken: 13/12/2008, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Pimelea gnidia.<br>Photographer: Mike Thorsen, Licence: All rights reserved. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
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Common names

pimelea

Biostatus

Native – Endemic taxon

Category

Vascular

Structural class

Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons

Simplified description

Shrub to 1.5m tall with reddish twigs bearing pairs of bright green pointed leaves and hairy white flowers inhabiting higher rainfall upland (or sea level in deep south) areas from the Tararua Range to Fiordland. Leaves 5-35mm long by 2-7mm wide. Flowers to 5.5mm long. Fruit dry, enclosing black seed.

Flower colours

Red/Pink, White

Detailed description

An erect to suberect much-branched shrub up to 1.5 m tall (reduced in stature on exposed sites and poor soils). Branches and branchlets ascending, glabrous or sparsely hairy at leaf axils and hairy on receptacles; internodes usually short. Node buttresses, brown or black, occupy the whole internode and may be prominent after leaf fall; internodes 2–7 mm long. Bark ages to grey. Leaves decussate, ascending, later sometimes patent or deflexed, often imbricate, on petioles 1–3 mm long. Lamina pale to medium or olive green, coriaceous, elliptic, ovate or sometimes oblong, obovate or lanceolate, 5–35 × 2–7 mm, keeled, acute, blunt-pointed or slightly apiculate, base cuneate. Margins thickened, slightly down-turned; midvein prominent abaxially, sunken above; lateral vein pattern camptodromus but not clearly evident; stomata only on under side. Inflorescences few to many-flowered, pedicels 1–2 mm long, persistent. Involucral bracts 4, similar to leaves but usually wider. Plants gynodioecious. Flowers hairy on outside; inside hairless, fragrant, white or flushed rose, sometimes wholly pink often with lower tube red. Calyx lobes open in salverform fashion. Female tube to 5.5 mm long, ovary portion 3 mm, calyx lobes 3.5 × 1.8 mm. female tube to 9 mm long, ovary portion 3.5 mm, calyx lobes 3.2 × 1.8 mm; staminodes short, at mouth of tube. Anther filaments inserted below mouth of tube; anthers yellow. Ovary with short hairs at summit and to about half-way down. Fruits ovoid, green, drying brown, 4 mm long. Seeds ovoid 3.4 × 1.6 mm. The dried hypanthia disperse with fruits inside.

Similar taxa

Very close to P. longifolia (it could be considered an upland form of that species) from which it differs by its smaller leaves, shorter flowers and preference for mostly subalpine habitats. Pimelea gnidia is only coastal in the southern part of its range where P. longifolia is not known. Both species are said to frequently hybridise (see Burrows 2008).

Distribution

Endemic. New Zealand: North (southern third), and South Island (westerly from Nelson to Fiordland)

Habitat

Coastal and lowland (southern part of range only) otherwise montane to subalpine. On rock, rock debris, leached acidic mineral soil, and peaty loam in open forest, forest margins and scrub on stream margins, landslides, valley heads, moraines, heathlands, burnt forest areas.

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 | Not Threatened

Jump to previous conservation statuses

Detailed taxonomy

Family

Thymelaeaceae

Authority

Pimelea gnidia (J.R.Forst. et G.Forst.) Lam.

Synonyms

Banksia gnidia J.R.Forst. et G.Forst.; Passerina gnidia L.f.; Cookia gnidia J.F.Gmel.; Pimelea gnidia var. menziesii Hook. f.; Pimelea crosby-smithiana Petrie

Taxonomic notes

Pimelea crosby-smithiana previously regarded as a distinct species is now regarded as part of the natural variation of P. gnidia.

Endemic taxon

Yes

Endemic genus

No

Endemic family

No

Ecology

Flowering

October - January

Fruiting

December - April

Propagation technique

Fickle. Can be grown from cuttings, and occasionally seed germinates in garden conditions. Does best in full sun on a well drained soil. However, even well established plants are prone to sudden collapse.

Other information

Etymology

pimelea: Pimeleoides means “resembling Pimelea’’, a genus in the family Thymelaeaceae (Greek, -oides = resembling, like).

gnidia: Named after the genus Gnidia which is also in the Thymelaeaceae family. Gnidia is named after Gnidus, a town in Crete.

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.

PIMGNI

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 | Not Threatened

2012 | Not Threatened

2009 | Not Threatened

2004 | Not Threatened

Jump to current conservation status

Referencing and citations

References and further reading

Burrows, C.J. 2008: Genus Pimelea (Thymelaeaceae) in New Zealand 1. The taxonomic treatment of seven endemic, glabrous-leaved species. New Zealand Journal of Botany 46: 127-176.

Attribution

Description based on Burrows (2008).

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