The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network

Species

Dracophyllum acerosum

Etymology

Dracophyllum: dragon leaf, from its likeness to the dragon tree of the Canary Islands
acerosum: Sharp, with stiff needles; needle-like

Current Conservation Status

2012 - Not Threatened

Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2012
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2012 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS). This report includes a statistical summary and brief notes on changes since 2009 and replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Authors: Peter J. de Lange, Jeremy R. Rolfe, Paul D. Champion, Shannel P. Courtney, Peter B. Heenan, John W. Barkla, Ewen K. Cameron, David A. Norton and Rodney A. Hitchmough. File size: 792KB

Previous Conservation Status

2009 - Not Threatened
2004 - Not Threatened

Authority

Dracophyllum acerosum Bergg.

Family

Ericaceae

Brief Description

Upright, multi-branched, shrub or small tree of montane to suablpine shrubland and tussock grassland, bearing green, grass-like leaves, and white flowers borne singly on short terminal branches

Flora Category

Vascular - Native

NVS Species Code

DRAACE

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Trees & Shrubs

Synonyms

Dracophyllum uniflorum var. acicularifolium Cheeseman; Dracophyllum acicularifolium (Cheeseman) Cockayne nom. illeg.; Dracophyllum peninsulare W.R.B.Oliv.

Habitat

Montane to subalpine. On mountain slopes, ridgelines and hillsides, also along river or stream sides and on moraine terraces at altitudes at the treeline, in subalpine shrubland, tussock grassland, grassland or herbfield. Often common in areas which have been much burned in the recent past.

Features

Erect multi–stemmed shrub or small tree, 1–2 m tall. Bark on old branches grey to dark grey, smooth to finely fissured, young stems reddish brown. Leaves erect to spreading; lamina sheath 5–20 × 3.5–6.5 mm, coriaceous, striate, truncate to auricled and margin membranous, smooth or with the top half ciliate; lamina linear to linear–triangular, 30–190 × 0.7–1.5 mm, adaxial surface rugose, abaxial surface glabrous, slightly striated; margins serrulate with 14–21 teeth per 10 mm; apex triquetrous. Inflorescence a solitary terminal flower on lateral branchlets, sessile, shorter than leaves; flower bracts persistent, over-topping flowers, leaf like, ovate–lanceolate, 8.5–17.0 × 2.5–5.0 mm, surfaces glabrous with a tuft of scabrid hairs at apices, margins ciliate. Sepals lanceolate to narrowly ovate, 8.0–13.0 × 2.0–2.5 mm, shorter to equaling the corolla tube, adaxial surfaces with the top half pubescent; abaxial surfaces glabrous; margins ciliate; apices hard. Corolla white to light green turning yellowish; corolla tube cylindrical, 7.0–8.0 × 1.8–2.2 mm; corolla lobes reflexed, ovate–triangular to triangular, shorter than corolla tube, 1–3 × 1–2 mm; apices inflexed, subacute; surfaces glabrous. Stamens inserted on corolla tube in upper third, filaments 0.5–1.0 mm long; anthers included, rectangular, light yellow, 0.8–1.0 mm long. Ovary cylindrical, 2.2–3.0 × 1.3–1.7 mm; glabrous; nectary scales rectangular, 1.5–1.6 × 0.7–0.8 mm, apices retuse; style included, 1.3–1.5 mm long, glabrous; stigma capitate. Fruit sessile, light brown, 4.0–4.5 × 4.0–4.2 mm, oblong, apex round, glabrous. Seeds yellowish brown, ovoid, 1.45–1.5 mm long, testa slightly reticulate.

Similar Taxa

Dracophyllum acerosum is somewhat similar to D. kirkii from which it differs in being erect–stemmed, many branched, and with adult leaves that are narrower (0.7–1.5 mm) and with the adaxial lamina surface rugose with fewer teeth per 10 mm (14–21) on the lamina margin. Also the leaf apex is distinctly triquetrous. The adaxial surface of the flower bract differs from that of D. kirkii in having a tuft of scabrid hairs at the apex. The sepals are longer (8–13 mm) with the top adaxial half pubescent. The corolla tube is longer (7–8 mm) with no apical ridge on the corolla lobes that is also glabrous on the adaxial surface. The ovary also differs that it is cylindrical. Dracophyllum acerosum is also similar to D. uniflorum var. frondosum from which it differs in lacking the prominent apical ridge on the petal and having a subacute corolla lobe apex. The margins of the flower bracts are ciliate not serrulate, while the nectary scales are longer (1.5–1.6 cf. 1.2–1.5 mm). The apex of the ovary of D. acerosum is round not truncate like that of D. uniflorum var. frondosum and the style is much shorter (1.3–1.5 cf. 3.0–4.0 mm).

Flowering

November – May

Fruiting

January - August

Propagation Technique

Difficult - should not be removed from the wild

Threats

Not Threatened

Chromosome No.

2n = 26

Endemic Taxon

Yes

Endemic Genus

No

Endemic Family

No

This page last updated on 31 Oct 2013