The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network

Species

Dracophyllum filifolium

Etymology

Dracophyllum: dragon leaf, from its likeness to the dragon tree of the Canary Islands

Common Name(s)

none known

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 filifolium Hook.f.

Family

Ericaceae

Brief Description

Shrub or small tree (up to 4 m tall) of lowland to montane forest, shrubland and grassland. Leaves grass-like, erect. Flowers white, borne in spikes, with the inflorescence bracts and flower bracts distinctly longer than the flowers.

Flora Category

Vascular - Native

NVS Species Code

DRAFIL

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Trees & Shrubs

Synonyms

Dracophyllum setifolium Stchegl.; Dracophyllum pungens Colenso; Dracophyllum virgatum Colenso; Dracophyllum heterophyllum Colenso; Dracophyllum ×vulcanicum; Dracophyllum urvillianum var. filifolium Cheeseman; Dracophyllum collinum W.R.B. Oliv.; Dracophyllum filifolium var. centrale W.R.B. Oliv.; Dracophyllum filifolium var. collinum W.R.B. Oliv.

Distribution

Endemic. North, South and Stewart Islands from Huiarau Range south.

Habitat

Dracophyllum filifolium is found in lowland to montane forest, shrubland and grassland from sea level (southern part of range only) along mountain slopes on saddles and mountain ridges up 1500 m altitude.

Features

Erect multi–stemmed shrub or tree, 1–4 m tall. Bark on old branches grey to brown, finely fissured, young stems reddish brown. Leaves erect to spreading;lamina sheath 6.0–16.0 × 3.0–5.5 mm, membranous, shoulders tapering to auricled, margins ciliate in the upper half; lamina linear to linear–triangular, 40.0–200.0 × 0.7–1.5 mm, surfaces glabrous with a tuft of scabrid hairs at base of adaxial surface, slightly striated; margins serrulate with 18–25 teeth per 10 mm; apex acute to weakly triquetrous. Inflorescence a terminal spike on lateral branchlets, shorter than leaves, erect to drooping, dense, 20–30 mm long, linear–oblong; inflorescence bract over-topping flowers, ovate–lanceolate, 8.5–17 × 2–4 mm, surfaces glabrous; margins ciliate. Flowers 5–10, sessile; flower bracts over-topping flowers, broadly–ovate; 5.6–13.0 × 3.0–4.0 mm, surfaces glabrous with a tuft of scabrid hair at base of adaxial surface, margins ciliate. Sepals 4.0–6.0 × 1.5–1.7 mm, ovate–lanceolate, occasionally ovate, equaling corolla tube, surfaces glabrous; margins ciliate. Corolla white; corolla tube 3.5–6.0 × 1.8–2.5 mm, cylindrical; corolla lobes reflexed, 1.5–2.0 × 1.5–1.6 mm, ovate, shorter than corolla tube, apices subacute to acute; surfaces glabrous. Stamens inserted on corolla tube in upper third, filaments 0.2–0.3 mm long; anthers included, oblong, light yellow and 1 mm long. Ovary subglobose, 1.5–2.0 × 1.0–1.5 mm, glabrous, apex round; nectary scales 0.7–1.0 × 0.5–0.7 mm, oblong; apices obtuse to retuse; style included, 1–2 mm long, glabrous; stigma five–lobed. Fruit sessile, 2.0–2.5 × 2.0–2.2 mm,light brown, obovoid, apex round, glabrous. Seeds 0.8–1.2 mm long, yellowish brown, filiform, testa slightly reticulate.

Similar Taxa

Dracophyllum filifolium is recognised by the spicate inflorescences which are 17–24 mm long; by the inflorescence bracts and flower bracts distinctly longer than the flower; by the sepals equal to the corolla tube which is 3.0–4.5 mm long; bythe corolla lobes 1.5–2.0 mm wide, and by the nectary scales whch are 1.0–1.3 mm long and have obtuse apices. Dracophyllum filifolium is similar to D. urvilleanum and D. lessonianum species with which it never grows and from which it differs in leaf, inflorescence and flower characters given above.

Flowering

November – June

Flower Colours

White

Fruiting

Throughout the year

Propagation Technique

Difficult - should not be removed from the wild

Threats

Not Threatened

Endemic Taxon

Yes

Endemic Genus

No

Endemic Family

No

Life Cycle and Dispersal

Minute seeds are wind dispersed (Thorsen et al., 2009).

This page last updated on 14 Aug 2014