Teucrium parvifolium
Common names
teucridium
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Simplified description
Rare shrub to 2m tall with yellowish wide-angled square branches bearing pairs of small rounded soft leaves and small white flowers inhabiting drier areas. Leaves 4-12mm long. Flowers with a few projecting curved filaments. Fruit dry.
Flower colours
White
Detailed description
A small-leaved shrub to 2 m. Young stems are orange or brown, square in cross-section and finely hairy. Leaves are in opposite pairs, round, dull green or brown-green; up to 12 mm long on stalks of equal length. Flowers are small (8 mm diameter), white (rarely bluish) with 5 irregular petal lobes. Fruit is a group of 4 seeds held within a persistent calyx.
Similar taxa
Small, round-leaved Coprosma species are similar, but easily distinguished by their round or oval stems, leaf domatia (or pits in the leaf near the midrib) and a small, pointed ‘stipule’ running across the stem between each leaf pair. Neomyrtus pedunculata has square stems, but they are hairless while the leaves are shiny and gland-dotted.
Distribution
Endemic to New Zealand, occurring sporadically from Northland to Southland, but commoner in the east of both islands.
Habitat
Along fertile stream sides and river terraces in lowland dry forest and podocarp-hardwood forest; occasionally on forest margins, clearings and amongst scrub.
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 – Declining | Qualifiers: Sp
Threats
Forest clearance, rural development, stock and feral animal browse, invasive weeds.
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Synonyms
Teucridium parvifolium var. luxurians Cheeseman„ Teucridium parvifolium Hook.f.
Taxonomic notes
Long regarded as an endemic, monotypic genus Teucridium, recent phylogenetic studies have clearly established that the genus is better merged within an expanded concept of Teucrium (Salmaki et al. 2016).
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
Flowering occurs from October to January.
Fruiting
Fruiting from December to March.
Propagation technique
Easy from fresh seed and semi-hardwood cuttings. A very hardy shrub which is tolerant of a wide range of habitats, soils types and moisture regimes.
Other information
Cultivation
Occasionally available from commercial nurseries. An attractive shrub which should be more widely grown.
Etymology
parvifolium: Small-leafed
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.
TEUPAV
Chromosome number
2n = 64
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 – Declining | Qualifiers: Sp
2012 | At Risk – Declining | Qualifiers: Sp
2009 | At Risk – Declining | Qualifiers: Sp
2004 | Gradual Decline
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 | Threatened – Regionally Endangered | Qualifiers: DPS, DPT, NR, PF, RF, Sp
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Allan, H.H. 1961: Flora of New Zealand. Vol. I. Government Printer, Wellington.
Salmaki, Y.; Kattari, S.; Heubl, G.; Bräuchler, C. 2016: Phylogeny of non-monophyletic Teucrium (Lamiaceae: Ajugoideae): Implications for character evolution and taxonomy. Taxon 65: 805–822
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared by Peter J. de Lange (August 2004). 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.
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Teucrium parvifolium Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/teucrium-parvifolium/ (Date website was queried)