Senecio colensoi
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledonous composites
Distribution
Endemic. New Zealand: North Island (east coast from Hawke’s Bay south to Cape Turnagain, extending inland to Lake Taupo).
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.
Please note, threat classifications are often suggested by authors when publications fall between NZTCS assessment periods – these interim threat classification statuses has not been assessed by the NZTCS panel.
- 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: Sp, DPS, DPT, RR
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Asteraceae
Synonyms
Senecio colensoi Hook.f. var. colensoi, Senecio colensoi var. lobulatus Allan, Senecio colensoi var. obtusifolius Allan
Taxonomic notes
Most botanists now include Senecio colensoi within S. banksii but the published evidence for this is wanting, i.e. no formal study of this species pair has been presented, just an opinion based on a brief examination of herbarium specimens (Webb et al. 1988). As such until a proper, critical study of the two species is undertaken it seems prudent to retain them as distinct, especially as in the field both species are easily distinguished and have been found growing sympatrically. Senecio colensoi differs from S. banksii mainly by the leaves which are densely covered with silvery-white lanate hairs. It is also a smaller, less heavily branched plant.
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Other information
Etymology
senecio: From the Latin senex ‘old man’ (probably referring to the bearded seeds)
colensoi: Named after William Colenso (7 November 1811 - 10 February 1899) who was a Cornish Christian missionary to New Zealand, and also a printer, botanist, explorer and politician.
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.
SENCOL
Chromosome number
2n = 60
Previous conservation status
2017 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: DP, RR, Sp
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Webb CJ, Sykes WR, Garnock-Jones PJ. 1988. Flora of New Zealand, Volume IV. Naturalised Pteridophytes, Gymnosperms, Dicotyledons. Botany Division, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Christchurch, NZ. 1365 p.