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  4. Wahlenbergia congesta

Wahlenbergia congesta

Wahlenbergia congesta.<br>Photographer: Jessie Prebble, 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>
Ferguson Coast.<br>Photographer: Simon Walls, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>.
Green Hills.<br>Photographer: Simon Walls, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>.
Close up of flower.<br>Photographer: Simon Walls, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>.
Ship Creek.<br>Photographer: Mike Thorsen, Date taken: 09/08/2013, 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>
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Common names

harebell

Biostatus

Native – Endemic taxon

Category

Vascular

Structural class

Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites

Flower colours

Blue, White

Detailed description

Compact, mat-forming, predominantly autogamous perennial herb producing numerous close-set rosulate tufts of glossy glabrous, dark green to yellow-green leaves and subsessile white flowers. Petiole 1.5–2 mm, narrow, rather thin. Leaves 8–25 mm, dark green, yellow-green or reddish-green, orbicular, spathulate, margins shallowly crenate-serrate, undulate or flat, narrowed to petiole. Scape solitary arising from centre of each rosette, 10–20 mm long when flowering, elongating up to 50 mm long in fruit. Flowers solitary, terminal, erect, white or faintly tinged blue, 12–15 mm diameter. Calyx lobes 2 × 1 mm wide at base, triangular. Corolla 9–12 mm long, rotate-campanulate to funnelform, tube bowl-shaped, 4 × 5 mm, lobes 7–8 × 5 mm, ovate, obtuse. Capsule 3–6 mm diameter, globular. Seeds glossy brown, ellipsoid.

Similar taxa

None. The coastal habitat, compact, mat forming growth form, and small globose capsule readily distinguish Wahlenbergia congesta from the other rosulate New Zealand species of the genus. Petterson (1997) recognised two subspecies (subsp. congesta and subsp. haastii) within W. congesta. Her subsp. haastii is said to differ from subsp. congesta by having smaller capsules (3 mm cf. up to 6 mm diameter in subsp. congesta) and funnelform rather than rotate-campanulate flowers. These are distinctions which on occasion can be seen in other populations that she had treated as subsp. congesta. Petterson (1997) also argued that there was an ecological distinction, with subsp. haastii rowing only on schist sand—however, this geological difference is apparent only because, in the range where subsp. haastii happens to grow, the beaches are made up primarily of the local rock type—schist. In cultivation the characters she used are soon lost, suggesting that irrespective of substrate there is no genetic or ecological basis to warrant continued recognition of this subspecies.

Distribution

Endemic. New Zealand: South Island (North-west Nelson coastline south to northern Fiordland and also along portions of the northern Foveaux Strait coastline).

Habitat

Coastal on rocky bluffs, cliff faces, ledges, beaches (cobble and sand), sand dunes and in low turf overlying seepages. Usually found in the most exposed sites where constant wind and salt blast reduces competition from taller plants.

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, DPS, DPT

Jump to previous conservation statuses

Threats

A widespread at times locally common, biologically sparse and somewhat disjunct species. It is possible that some populations particularly those within dune fields are at risk, are declining or have gone extinct but there is as yet have no clear evidence for this.

Detailed taxonomy

Family

Campanulaceae

Authority

Wahlenbergia congesta (Cheeseman) N.E.Brown

Synonyms

Wahlenbergia congesta (Cheeseman) N.E.Br. subsp. congesta, Wahlenbergia congesta subsp. haastii J.A.Petterson, Wahlenbergia morganii Petrie, Wahlenbergia saxicola var. congesta Cheeseman

Endemic taxon

Yes

Endemic genus

No

Endemic family

No

Ecology

Flowering

November–February

Fruiting

December–April

Propagation technique

Easily grown from rooted pieces—best kept in a pot and frequently repotted with fresh soil to keep it going. use free draining soil mixed with plenty of sand. Does not like to dry out to much and does best in a sunny situation.

Other information

Where To Buy

Not commercially available.

Plant of the Month

This plant has been featured as a Plant of the Month – see Trilepidea: NZPCN newsletter for December 2016 for the full story.

Etymology

wahlenbergia: Named in honour of Wahlenberg, a Swedish botanist and author of A Botany of Lapland.

congesta: Crowded

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.

WAHCON

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 – Declining | Qualifiers: Sp

2012 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: Sp

2009 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: DP

2004 | Sparse

Jump to current conservation status

Referencing and citations

References and further reading

Petterson JA. 1997. Revision of the genus Wahlenbergia (Campanulaceae) in New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botanv 35(1): 9–54. https://doi.org/10.1080/0028825X.1997.10410669.

Attribution

Fact sheet prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange (22 October 2006). Description adapted from Petterson (1997).

NZPCN Fact Sheet citation

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

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