Poa aucklandica subsp. aucklandica
Common names
Auckland Island poa
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Grasses
Detailed description
Tufted, dull green, slenderly laxly tufted rhizomatous perennial with narrow, ± erect leaves, ± reaching top of culms; branching extravaginal at plant base, intravaginal above; leaf-blades persistent. Leaf-sheath glabrous, very light green or pale brown, membranous, shredding into fibres. Ligule 1.0–1.3 mm long, apically glabrous, ± obtuse and slightly erose, abaxially slightly scabrid. Leaf-blade 40–160 × 0.5 – c. 1.5 mm, flaccid, soft, flat to folded, underside smooth, upper surface minutely ciliate-scabrid on ribs; margins and midrib smooth, tip curved. Culm slender, 45–300 mm long, internodes usually slightly scabrid below panicle. Panicle 30–80 mm long, lax, with few large spikelets borne singly at tips of filiform, finely scabrid branches. Spikelets 4.5–8.0 mm long, 3–5-flowered, brownish green or greenish purple. Glumes subequal, oblong-elliptic, acute, smooth, but occasionally scabrid on midnerve near tip; lower 3.5–5.0 mm , 3-nerved, upper 4.0–5.5 mm, 3–(5)-nerved. Lemma 4.0–5.5 mm, oblong-elliptic, acute; 5–7-nerved, nerves minutely scabrid with a few short hairs near base of midnerve and outer lateral nerves, internerves glabrous, often scabrid towards tip, midnerve occasionally very shortly excurrent. Palea 3.0–4.5 mm long, minutely closely scabrid on keels, smooth elsewhere. Callus with very small tuft of long crinkled hairs. Rachilla c. 1 mm, sparsely scabrid; prolongation to twice as long. Lodicules 0.5–0.7 mm. Anthers 0.4–0.7 mm long. Seeds 1.5 × 0.7 mm.
Similar taxa
Allided to Poa aucklandica subsp. campbelliensis (Petrie) Edgar and P. aucklandica subsp. rakiura Edgar. The first subspecies is confined to the Campbell Islands and differs by its smaller tufted habit, with culms up to 100 cf. 300 mm tall in subsp. aucklandica, more closely packed culms, smaller ligule (up to 1.0 cf. 1.3 mm) and leaves (up to 50 mm cf. 160 mm) which are stiff and inrolled rather than flat or folded, smaller panicle (up to 50 mm cf. 80 mm), unequal rather than subequal glumes and other minor differences in the glume ornamentation, lemma, palea and anther size ranges. Poa aucklandica subsp. rakiura differs by its restriction to Mt Anglem, Stewart Island, by its slender, laxly tufted habit, taller culms (up to 500 cf. 300 mm), occasionally finely pubescent-scabrid leaf-sheath, longer leaves (up to 200 cf. 160 mm), smaller panicle up to 75 cf. 80 mm, unequal glumes, and other minor differences in the glume ornamentation, lemma, palea and anther size ranges.
Distribution
Endemic. New Zealand: Auckland Islands.
Habitat
.Upland herbfield and rock crevices
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 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: DPS, IE, OL
Threats
Not threatened. Listed because it is a narrow range island endemic abundant within its known habitats.
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Synonyms
Poa kirkii var. aucklandica (Petrie) Zotov
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
Unknown—insufficiently studied and collected.
Fruiting
Unknown—insufficiently studied and collected.
Propagation technique
Unknown.
Other information
Where To Buy
Not Commercially Available
Etymology
poa: Meadow grass
aucklandica: Of the Auckland Islands
Manaaki Whenua Online Interactive Key
Chromosome number
2n = 28
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 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: DP, IE, OL
2012 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: IE, OL
2009 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: IE
2004 | Range Restricted
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Edgar E, Connor HE. 2000. Flora of New Zealand. Vol. V. Grasses. Manaaki Whenua Press, Christchurch, NZ. 650 p.
Attribution
Description modified from Edgar and Connor (2000).
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.