Plantago udicola
Synonyms
None (first described 2012)
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.
PLAUDI
Chromosome number
2n = 96
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 | Not Threatened | Qualifiers: DP
Previous conservation statuses
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
Distribution
Endemic. New Zealand: North and South Islands (Central Volcanic Plateau otherwise North-West Nelson south to Fiordland).
Habitat
Subalpine to alpine. In open or sheltered tussockland, herb fields, scrub seeps, creeks, flushes, bogs, damp hollows, swampy patches, wet ground and lake shores; at base of bluffs, on schist, greywacke, silt or peaty soil.
Wetland plant indicator status rating
Information derived from the revised national wetland plant list prepared to assist councils in delineating and monitoring wetlands (Clarkson et al., 2021 Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research Contract Report LC3975 for Hawke’s Bay Regional Council). The national plant list categorises plants by the extent to which they are found in wetlands and not ‘drylands’. The indicator status ratings are OBL (obligate wetland), FACW (facultative wetland), FAC (facultative), FACU (facultative upland), and UPL (obligate upland). If you have suggestions for the Wetland Indicator Status Rating, please contact: [Enable JavaScript to view protected content]
OBL: Obligate Wetland
Almost always is a hydrophyte, rarely in uplands (non-wetlands).
Detailed description
Rosette plants; primary root 3-20 mm thick. Leaves all basal, 8-19 to per rosette, green or brown when dry, usually narrowly angular-obovate, rarely narrowly obovate, widest point above middle, 16-186 × 4-27mm wide; axillary hairs ferrugineous, slightly to very visible, up to 5-23mm long. Lamina narrowly elliptic, elliptic, narrowly rhombic, rhombic, narrowly angular-obovate or angular-obovate, widest point usually at middle, sometimes above middle, 13-175 mm long, usually not punctate, rarely punctate, usually with isolated hairs or sparsely hairy, rarely densely hairy adaxially, glabrous, with isolated hairs or sparsely hairy, especially along midrib and margins, rarely densely hairy abaxially; hairs patent and 0.5-3.6 mm; veins 1-5; lamina apex usually acute, rarely obtuse; base attenuate or cuneate; margins entire or subentire with wavy and irregular margins, with 4-12 minute, small, medium or large, obtuse, regular or irregular teeth up to 0.3-4.6mm long, with patchy isolated hairs to sparsely hairy; petiole usually distinguishable from lamina, 6.0-75.0 × 1.1-6.8 mm. Inflorescences erect, 3-18 per rosette, 62-266 mm long (including spikes); scapes elongating before anthesis, not ribbed, 3-250 × 4-8 mm thick at fruiting, sparsely to densely hairy, especially near top; trichomes patent (distally antrorse); spikes usually long and linear-ovoid, sometimes ovoid, rarely globose, 5-28 × 4-8 mm thick at fruiting. Flowers 2-32 per spike, usually densely crowded, rarely more distant below (up to 4 mm apart); bracts 1 per flower, ovate, broadly ovate or very broadly ovate, acute or obtuse, 1.8-3.5 × 0.8-2.2mm wide; bract margins with isolated hairs or sparsely hairy and outer surface glabrous or with isolated hairs along midrib; bract axils usually sparsely hairy, rarely with isolated hairs or densely hairy, 0.9-2.4 mm long; calyx usually shorter, rarely longer than capsule, 2.2-3.5 × 1.4-2.9 mm; calyx lobes 1.9-3.3 × 1.1-2.5 mm, ovate, acute or obtuse; calyx lobe margins scarious and usually with isolated hairs at apex, rarely glabrous, middle coloured part 0.3-0.9mm wide, outer surface glabrous or with isolated hairs on midrib; corolla tube 1.8-3.7 mm long, longer than lobes; corolla lobes 1.1-2.9 × 0.6-1.3 mm, usually narrowly ovate or ovate, rarely broadly ovate, acute; stamen filaments 2.0-7.5mm long, usually attached to lower half, rarely upper half of corolla tube 0.2-1.7 mm; anthers 1.5-2.2 mm long; style 2.2-6.4 mm long, densely hairy throughout; stigma filiform, undifferentiated from style; ovary 0.6-1.8 × 0.5-1.3 mm; ovules 4-5. Capsules 2.1-4.7 × 1.4-3.2 × 0.8-1.9 mm, ellipsoid, broadly ellipsoid or ovoid, rarely rhomboid, broadly rhomboid or broadly ovoid, widest at lower half or middle, septum usually reaching top of capsule, not forming an upper compartment to one side. Seeds 1-4 per capsule, 1.1-2.5 × 0.6-1.4 mm uniform, usually ellipsoid, rarely narrowly ellipsoid, rust, brown or dark brown, edges rounded.
Similar taxa
Plantago udicola is distinguished from other species of Plantago by the following suite of characters: 1-4 ellipsoid, uniform seeds; scapes with type ‘i’ and type ‘g’ hairs (see Meudt 2012); bracts that are sparsely minute ciliate or with isolated hairs along the whole margin; sepal margins with one or few isolated hairs at apex only. It is also ecologically distinct from P. spathulata, P. picta and P. raoulii, being found in boggy habitats of tussock lands and herb fields above 600 m, and cytologically distinct, as it is a 16-ploid, whereas the other three species are octoploids.
Flowering
November - February
Fruiting
December - June
Propagation technique
Easily grown from fresh seed and transplants.
Threats
Not Threatened but would warrant more survey to make sure this assessment is correct (Meudt 2012, p. 152).
Etymology
plantago: Old Latin name for flat-leaved plants
Where To Buy
Not commercially available.
Attribution
Fact Sheet Prepared for NZPCN by: P.J. de Lange 18 June 2012. Description adapted from Meudt (2012).
References and further reading
Meudt, H.M. 2012: A taxonomic revision of native New Zealand Plantago (Plantaginaceae). New Zealand Journal of Botany 50: 101-178.
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Plantago udicola Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/plantago-udicola/ (Date website was queried)