Raoulia subulata
Common names
scabweed
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledonous composites
Flower colours
White
Detailed description
Closely branched more or less tufted herb forming patches up to 100 mm diameter; branches up to c. 40 mm long. Leaves densely imbricate, suberect to spreading, 3.0-10.0 × 0.5-1.0 mm, glabrous, membranous, firm, prominently 1-nerved, lanceolate, acuminate. Capitula more or less 4 mm diameter. Involucral bracts scarious, 3-4 × c.1 mm.; inner irregularly laciniate at tips. Florets 15-25, female fewer than perfect and sterile; corolla subfunnelform, lobes more or less acute. Achenes < 1mm. long, papillae long-claviform; pappus-hairs c.3 mm. long, rather rigid, slightly thickened above; papillae claviform. Receptacle hispid.
Distribution
Endemic. South Island: Nelson south to Southland, mostly east of the main divide
Habitat
Subalpine herbfield
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
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Synonyms
Psychrophyton subulatum Beauverd
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
Yes
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
December - February
Fruiting
February - April
Propagation technique
Difficult - should not be removed from the wild
Other information
Where To Buy
Not commercially available.
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.
subulata: From the Latin subulam ‘awl’, meaning awl-shaped
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.
RAOSUB
Chromosome number
2n = 56
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
Regional conservation statuses
The regional threat classification system leverages off the national assessments in the NZTCS, providing information relevant for the regional context. Otago conservation status information is sourced from the “Regional conservation status of indigenous vascular plants in Otago” Jarvie S et al. (2024) report.
Otago: 2024 | At Risk – Regionally Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: DPS, DPT, NS, NStr, RR, Sp
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.