Schoenus Fluitans On Chatham (Rekohu) Island
Schoenus fluitans Hook.f. is a semi-aquatic sedge previously known in New Zealand only from bogs and slow-flowing streams in the Central Volcanic Plateau and Ruahine Ranges of the North Island. In this country it is regarded as “At Risk/Range Restricted” because it has a very localised distribution. It is also present in Australia where it considered rather common.During January 2006 New Zealand Department of Conservation botanists Peter de Lange, John Sawyer and Amanda Baird collected S. fluitans from peaty pools within a Sporadanthus traversii/Dracophyllum scoparium dominated peat bog.
At the time the species was not immediately recognised for what it was, so its exact status on the island(s) is as yet unknown. However its discovery adds to the growing list of North Island/Chatham disjunctions, and in this case adds a further Australian connection, otherwise evident in the Chatham Island flora by the presence of Atriplex australasica, A. billardieri and Leucopogon parviflorus.
Posted: 03/03/2006