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  4. Simplicia buchananii

Simplicia buchananii

North-west Nelson.<br>Photographer: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Date taken: 17/03/2016, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
North-west Nelson.<br>Photographer: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Date taken: 17/03/2016, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
North-west Nelson.<br>Photographer: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Date taken: 17/03/2016, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Panicle. North-west Nelson.<br>Photographer: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Date taken: 17/03/2016, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Panicle. North-west Nelson.<br>Photographer: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Date taken: 17/03/2016, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
North-west Nelson.<br>Photographer: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Date taken: 17/03/2016, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
North-west Nelson.<br>Photographer: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Date taken: 20/03/2016, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Spikelet. North-west Nelson.<br>Photographer: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Date taken: 20/03/2016, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Leaf collar and ligule. North-west Nelson.<br>Photographer: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Date taken: 17/03/2016, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
North-west Nelson.<br>Photographer: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Date taken: 17/03/2016, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
habitat. Tablelands, Kahurangi N.P.<br>Photographer: Mike Thorsen, Licence: All rights reserved. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Tablelands, Kahurangi N.P.<br>Photographer: Mike Thorsen, Licence: All rights reserved. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Close up - ex. Honeycomb Cave.<br>Photographer: Peter J. de Lange, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>.
panicle. Gordons Pyramid, Kahurangi N.P.<br>Photographer: Mike Thorsen, Licence: All rights reserved. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
ligule. Gordons Pyramid, Kahurangi N.P.<br>Photographer: Mike Thorsen, Licence: All rights reserved. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
spikelets. Tablelands, Kahurangi N.P.<br>Photographer: Mike Thorsen, Licence: All rights reserved. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
North-west Nelson.<br>Photographer: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Date taken: 17/03/2016, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
North-west Nelson.<br>Photographer: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Date taken: 17/03/2016, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
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Common names

simplicia

Biostatus

Native – Endemic taxon

Category

Vascular

Structural class

Grasses

Flower colours

Green

Detailed description

Weakly erect to scrambling or loosely tufted, slender grass forming patches up to 1 m across and 0.5 m tall. Leaf-sheath membranous, strongly ribbed, mostly scabrid on ribs; basal sheaths dark brown, pubescent, upper sheaths glabrous or pubescent. Ligule 2–4 mm, erose, undersides glabrous. Leaf-blade 100–200 × 1.5–4.0 mm, smooth or finely scabrid on ribs; margins finely scabrid, apex acuminate. Culm internodes glabrescent or finely pubescent. Panicle 40–180 mm long, ± linear; rachis glabrous, branches short or long, mostly erect, basal 1 or 2 sometimes reflexed, sometimes basal branches widely spreading; glabrous, bearing spikelets almost to base, pedicels short, glabrous, ± appressed to branchlets. Spikelets 2.8–3.0 mm, 1–(2)-flowered, lanceolate, light green. Glumes glabrous, ovate-lanceolate to ovate, acute to subacute, margins ciliate; lower 0.7–1.0 mm, upper 1.0–1.5 mm. Lemma mostly equivalent in length to spikelet, scabrid or shortly pubescent, 3-nerved or with 2 additional fainter lateral nerves, ovate-lanceolate, acute to mucronate, or with a subapical awnlet. Palea 2.3–2.7 mm, 1–2-nerved, scabrid. Rachilla prolongation 0.5 mm long, glabrous. Anthers 0.7–1.3 mm long, purplish or yellow. Seed 1.5 mm long.

Similar taxa

Simplicia laxa and S. felix mainly differ by their more or less pyramidal rather than mostly linear inflorescence of S. buchananii. Simplicia laxa and S. felix have spreading to reflexed rather than contracted inflorescence branches. The lemma of S. buchananii is scabrid, in S. laxa it is shortly pubescent and in S. felix it is minutely scabrid.

Distribution

Endemic to New Zealand. Known from three sites in the southern North Island near Taihape, and from North West Nelson, in the South Island.

Habitat

Exact preferences unclear, though a preference for base-rich substrates and semi-shaded situations in forest or near rock overhangs is evident. In the South Island it has usualyl been collected on or near limestone or marble outcrops in lowland to montane forest. The recently (2005) discovered North Island site differs somewhat in that plants grow in and around the bases of titoki (Alectryon excelsus Gaertn. subsp. excelsus) trees on river terraces. However, even here the underlying substrate is calcareous mudstones and siltstones

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 | Threatened – Nationally Critical | Qualifiers: Sp, DPR, DPS, DPT, RR

Jump to previous conservation statuses

Threats

A local endemic which can apparently be locally common but most sites are very small. However, only one South Island population is currently known and the status of other populations in NW Nelson needs examination.

Detailed taxonomy

Family

Poaceae

Authority

Simplicia buchananii (Zotov) Zotov

Synonyms

Poa uniflora Buchanan, Simplicia laxa var. buchananii Zotov

Taxonomic notes

nrDNA ITS sequences show that both S. buchananii and S. laxa have hybrid origins.

Endemic taxon

Yes

Endemic genus

Yes

Endemic family

No

Ecology

Flowering

(September)–November–(Febaruary)

Fruiting

(October)–January– (May)

Propagation technique

Very easy from fresh seed and rooted pieces. Can be grown from node cuttings. Does best in pots. Unlike S. laxa, this species flowers easily in cultivation, setting abundant seed, which in turn germinates easily. However, it is very short-lived, and plants need to be divided and repotted frequently to maintain them.

Other information

Etymology

buchananii: Named after John Buchanan (13 October 1819-1898) who was a New Zealand botanist and scientific artist and fellow of the Linnean Society.

Manaaki Whenua Online Interactive Key

Key to the grasses of New Zealand

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.

SIMBUC

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 | Threatened – Nationally Critical | Qualifiers: DP, RR, Sp

2012 | Threatened – Nationally Critical | Qualifiers: DP, RR, Sp

2009 | Threatened – Nationally Critical | Qualifiers: DP, RR, Sp

2004 | Range Restricted

Jump to current conservation status

Referencing and citations

References and further reading

de Lange PJ, Smissen RD, Rolfe JR, Ogle CC. 2016. Systematics of Simplicia Kirk (Poaceae, Agrostidinae) – an endemic, threatened New Zealand grass genus. PhytoKeys 75: 119–144.

Zotov, V. D. 1971. Simplicia T. Kirk (Gramineae). New Zealand Journal of Botany 9: 539-544.

Attribution

Fact Sheet prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange (27 october 2009). Description adapted from Zotov 1971.

NZPCN Fact Sheet citation

Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Simplicia buchananii Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/simplicia-buchananii/ (Date website was queried)

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