Species

Pachycladon enysii

Etymology

enysii: Named in honour of John Davies Enys (1837-1912), a Cornish geologist, biologist and farmer, who owned Castle Hill Station in Canterbury from 1867 to 1891.

Common Name(s)

high alpine cress

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 - Gradual Decline

Authority

Pachycladon enysii (Cheeseman) Heenan et A. Mitch.

Family

Brassicaceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Native

NVS Species Code

PACENY

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

Cheesemania enysii (Cheeseman) Schulz, Cardamine enysii Cheeseman, Nasturtium enysii (Cheeseman) Cheesman

Distribution

South Island: north and east of Southern Alps.

Habitat

High alpine rock crevices, on drier mountains.

Features

Low herb up to 10cm tall. Base of stem fleshy, about 1.5cm diameter, crowned by a rosette of leaves. Leaves toothed, about 4cm long, 1.5cm wide, oblong to spoon-shaped, covered with branched hairs. Flower stems short and branched. Flowers white, 4-petalled, up to 10mm across. Pods narrow-linear, about 2.5-3.5cm long, 2mm wide. Seeds less than 1mm long.

Similar Taxa

Pachycladon fastigiata, P. stellata. Leaves in P. enysii have a mix of forked and star-shaped hairs. P. fastigiata leaves are hairless and sharply toothed, P. stellata leaves are shallowly lobed and star-shaped hairs. The flower head in P. enysii is dense and on short stems. Other Pachycladon species have longer flower stems.

Flowering

January - March

Flower Colours

White

Fruiting

March - April

Propagation Technique

Difficult and should not be removed from the wild.

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 1 August 2003. Description based on Allan (1961) - as Cheesemania enysii

References and further reading

Allan, H.H. 1961: Flora of New Zealand. Vol. I. Wellington, Government Printer

This page last updated on 13 May 2014