Raoulia rubra
Common names
vegetable sheep
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledonous composites
Flower colours
Red/Pink, Violet/Purple
Detailed description
Stock hard, woody; branches woody at base, densely compacted, forming cushions up to 250 mm diameter and 150 mm tall. Leaves 2.0-4.0 × 1.0-1•5 mm, obovate-spathulate, rounded to truncate at tips. Apical portion of leaf clad on both surfaces in long straight hairs exceeding lamina; lower portion glabrous on both surfaces, 1-nerved. Capitula c.3 mm diameter. Inner series of involucral bracts linear, obtuse, scarious on margins, tip white, short, radiating. Florets 10-15; corolla crimson to purplish. Achenes c.2.5 mm long, clad in long silky hairs; pappus-hairs c.2.5 mm long, rigid.
Distribution
Endemic. North (Tararua Ranges) and South Island (North-west Nelson - Haupiri Range, Mt Arthur, North Westland - Paparoa Range)
Habitat
Subalpine to alpine - on rocky slopes, stable talus, cliff faces and rock ledges.
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: RR
Threats
Not Threatened - A narrow range endemic common within its known geographic range
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Synonyms
Psychrophyton rubrum Beauverd
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
Yes
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
November - January
Fruiting
January - April
Propagation technique
Difficult - should not be removed from the wild
Other information
Where To Buy
Not commercially available
Plant of the Month
This plant has been featured as a Plant of the Month – see Trilepidea: NZPCN newsletter for March 2010 for the full story.
Etymology
raoulia: Named after Étienne Fiacre Louis Raoul (23 July 1815–30 March 1852) who was a French naval surgeon and naturalist. He published a book Choix de plantes de la Nouvelle-Zélande (“Selected plants of New Zealand”) in 1846. The genus was named after him by Joseph Hooker.
rubra: Red
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.
RAORUB
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: RR
2012 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: RR
2009 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon
2004 | Range Restricted
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Allan, H.H. 1961: Flora of New Zealand. Vol. I, Government Printer, Wellington.
Attribution
Description adapted from Allan (1961).
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.