Species

Ourisia modesta

Etymology

Ourisia: after Ouris, governor of the Falkland Islands
modesta: Mild or modest

Common Name(s)

Creeping Foxglove

Current Conservation Status

2012 - Threatened - Nationally Critical

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 - Threatened - Nationally Critical
2004 - Gradual Decline

Qualifiers

2012 - Sp
2009 - Sp

Authority

Ourisia modesta Diels

Family

Plantaginaceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Native

NVS Species Code

OURMOD

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.

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Herbs other than Composites

Synonyms

None

Distribution

Endemic to the North, South and Stewart Islands. In the North Island known only from one site in the North West Ruahine Ranges, where it has not been seen recently.

Habitat

Beech forest alongside rivers, usually in seepages or on poorly drained terraces amongst leaf litter or in muddy hollows, sometimes associated with stream and river banks, or in flushes within subalpine scrub.

Features

Perennial, creeping herb up to 70 mm tall, with ascending inflorescences and repent leaves; stems 0.6–1.3 mm thick; internodes 6–22 mm long, clearly separate, glabrous or eglandular hairy. Leaves opposite; petiole 4.5–33.7 × 0.4–1.2 mm, mostly glabrous, leaf lamina 4.0–15.0 × 4.6–12.3 mm, broadly ovate, circular, or elliptic, apex rounded, base truncate or weakly cordate, sometimes slightly cuneate, margin subentire or irregularly notched, upper surface glabrous, finely and densely punctate, undersides glabrous, densely punctate. Inflorescence 25–90 mm long, racemose, ascending, bracteates, with 1–2-flowering nodes per inflorescence, 2 bracts and 1 flower per node, and c. 1–2 flowers per raceme; peduncle 0.6–1.1 mm wide, eglandular hairy. Floral bracts 3.7–9.3 × 3.9–9.3 mm, decreasing in size toward inflorescence apex, petiolate to subsessile, broadly ovate to ovate, rarely elliptic to circular, margin subentire or irregularly notched, glabrous or sparsely eglandular hairy on margins and petiole, otherwise upper surface densely punctate. Flowers 5.7–8.9 × 2.5–7.2 mm, white. Pedicel 2.3–15.8 mm long, sparsely eglandular hairy. Calyx 3.7–8.2 × 2.7–6.7 mm, irregular, glabrous, densely punctate, rarely sparsely eglandular hairy. Corolla 6.6–9.0 × 7.7–9.0 mm, bilabiate, tubular-funnelform, glabrous or rarely externally furnished with sparse, short, eglandular hairs; tube 3.3–6.3 × 2.8–3.8 mm at apex; corolla lobes 1.7–3.5 × 0.9–2.0 mm, slightly spreading, slightly obcordate, emarginated or apical margin undulate. Stamens 4, two long stamens 4.5–5.3 mm, two short stamens 2.6–4.6 mm, anthers reniform to horse-shoe-shaped, staminode 0.3–0.4 mm long or absent. Style 2.2–3.9 × 0.2–0.5 mm, capitate or emarginated; ovary 1.5–2.3 × 1.3–1.7 mm. Capsules 4.4–5.2 × 4.2–6.0 mm, glabrous, fruiting pedicels 17.0–31.3 mm long. Seeds 0.7–0.8 × 0.5–0.7 mm.

Similar Taxa

Easily confused with sterile specimens of Viola filicaulis from which it is most easily identified by having opposite, exstipulate rather than alternate stipulate leaves.

Flowering

December - January

Flower Colours

White

Fruiting

January - February

Propagation Technique

Difficult and should not be removed from the wild.

Threats

The exact extent of decline or the degree of threat this small herb actually faces is unclear. It would appear to have recently gone extinct in its only known North Island location, perhaps through natural succession to taller plants. In the South Island some populations have been lost as a result of weeds spreading into its habitat. However, as the species is very cryptic it is easily overlooked so it is possible that some of those populations believed to have gone are still there, while the exact distribution of the species remains unclear.

Chromosome No.

2n = 48

Endemic Taxon

Yes

Endemic Genus

No

Endemic Family

No

Where To Buy

Not commercially available.

 

Attribution

Fact Sheet Prepared for NZPCN by: P.J. de Lange 28 October 2009. Description based on Meudt (2006) - see also de Lange et al. (2010).

References and further reading

de Lange, P.J.; Heenan, P.B.; Norton, D.A.; Rolfe, J.R.; Sawyer, J.W.D. 2010: Threatened Plants of New Zealand, Christchurch, Canterbury University Press. 471pp

Meudt, H.M. 2006: Monograph of Ourisia (Plantaginaceae). Systematic Botany Monographs 37. 188pp.

This page last updated on 7 May 2014