Wahlenbergia albomarginata subsp. olivina
Common names
Red Hills harebell, Mt Dun harebell
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
Flower colours
Blue, Violet/Purple
Detailed description
Perennial herb with radical, rosulate tufts of leaves, sometimes alternate on elongated stems (shade form). Leaves dark olive green to red-green above, usually purple beneath, more or less petiolate, entire inconspicuously dentate, lamina 10 × 2 to 40 × 10 mm, linear to elliptic or ovate to obovate, gradually narrowed to petiole as long as the lamina or longer, margins cartilaginous, upper surface bearing sparse to numerous white, stiff bristly hairs. Flowers insect-pollinated, narrowly campanulate-rotate, corolla pale flax blue to pale blue-violet, often with white zoning and deeper coloured veins, or all white, 10-30 mm diameter, 10-20 mm long, corolla tube 4 × 3 to 10 × 6 mm, lobes 6 × 3 to 12 × 5 mm; style equal in length to corolla tube, lobes 2 or 3. Calyx lobes less than ¼ corolla length; capsule domed cylindric, 6-8 × 4 mm. Seeds 0.5 mm long, ellipsoid, smooth, glossy brown when mature.
Similar taxa
Similar to subsp. albomarginata, but differing by its restriction of ultramafic habitats, dark olive green to red-green leaves bearing on the upper surface numerous to sparse white, stiff bristly hairs; often purple leaf undersides; and by the prominent cartilaginous margins.
Distribution
Endemic. New Zealand: South Island (serpentine areas from Dun Mountain to the Red Hills, Richmond Range)
Habitat
Montane. Confined to serpentinite open rock, scree, bare soils and within open shrubland.
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, Sp
Threats
A naturally uncommon. range restricted species abundant throughout its known habitats. There are no obvious threats.
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Synonyms
None (first described in 1997)
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
November – April
Fruiting
December - April
Propagation technique
Easily grown from tip cuttings and the division of whole plants. Fresh seed germinates readily. Being insect-pollinated and having an indigenous pollinator, cultivated plants rarely set seed.
Other information
Etymology
wahlenbergia: Named in honour of Wahlenberg, a Swedish botanist and author of A Botany of Lapland.
albomarginata: From the Latin albus ‘white’ and marginatus ‘having a border or margin’ meaning something with a white margin, often referring to leaves
Chromosome number
2n = 36
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, Sp
2012 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: RR, Sp
2009 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon
2004 | Range Restricted
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Petterson, J.A. 1997: Revision of the genus Wahlenbergia (Campanulaceae) in New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 35: 9-54.
Attribution
Fact Sheet Prepared by P.J. de Lange (12 June 2007). Description adapted from Petterson (1997).
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Wahlenbergia albomarginata subsp. olivina Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/wahlenbergia-albomarginata-subsp-olivina/ (Date website was queried)