The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network

Species

Gentianella amabilis

Etymology

Gentianella: Little Gentiana (named after Gentius, 6th century king of Illyria, who found the roots of the yellow gentian to have a healing effect on his malaria-stricken troops)
amabilis: beautiful, worthy of love, pleasing (c.f. scienta amabilis, the pleasing science, i.e. botany)

Common Name(s)

Gentian

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

Gentianella amabilis (Petrie) Glenny

Family

Gentianaceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Native

NVS Species Code

GNTAMA

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Herbs other than Composites

Synonyms

Gentiana amabilis Petrie

Distribution

Endemic. New Zealand. South Island (Otago, Southland)

Habitat

Subalpine - Alpine cushion bogs and low-angled flushes.

Features

Plants polycarpic, height in flower 30–130 mm. Caudex unbranched, c.80 mm long. Root unbranched, 1.5–6.0 mm diameter at stem base. Flowering stems lateral only, 1–5 per plant, 1.1–2.0 mm diam. at base, stems tinted purple-black; lateral flowering stems erect or decumbent; flowering stem leaves 1–4 pairs per stem, lowest pedicels from near apex of flowering stem. Rosette of leaves distinct from flowering stem leaves; leaves narrowly elliptic or elliptic, 10–52 × 3.5–12.0 mm, tinted crimson below or tinted purple-black and speckled purple, channelled (petiole channelled also), not recurved, petiole indistinct to distinct, 9.5–12.5 × 1.0–4.1 mm wide; apex acute or rounded. Flowering stems 1-3 stems per plant. Flowering leaves as for rosette leaves but the upper ones sessile. Pedicels one per leaf axil, 3–37 mm long, 1.2–1.5 mm diameter. Flowers 1–5(-8)per plant, 15–23 mm long. Calyx 7.5–14.2 mm long, green tinted purple-black, hairs at calyx–corolla fusion line absent or present; lobes 4.5–9.5 × 3.1–4.7 mm at base, plane, apices acute, margins smooth or minutely denticulate, sinus hairs sparse. Corolla 11.8–22.5 mm long, white; tube 3.5–6.0 mm long; lobes 9.7–16 mm long, 5.8–10.6 mm wide, hairs below sinus absent or present; nectary 0.8–1.2–1.8 mm from corolla base. Filaments 7.5–13 mm long from corolla base, 0.9–2.0(–2.6) mm wide. Anthers 1.7–3.0 mm long, anther wall blue-black, mouth yellow, extrorse at anthesis; pollen yellow. Stigma colourless. Ovules 28–56 per ovary. Capsule 20–27 mm long.

Similar Taxa

Close to Gentianella bellidiflora from which it differs in being shorter, 30–130 mm tall (70–280 mm tall in Otago G. bellidifolia); having purple-spotted leaves with a dark purple petiole (green and unspotted in G. bellidifolia), and fewer flowers, 1–8 per plant (Otago G. bellidifolia has 4–26 flowers per plant); fewer flowering stems, 1–3 per plant (Otago G. bellidifolia has 1–4 stems per plant). The calyx lobes are wider, 3.1–4.7 mm wide (cf. 1.7–4.4) mm in G. bellidifolia), and the filaments are wider on average 1.7 mm rather than 1.2 mm.

Flowering

January – February

Flower Colours

White,Yellow

Fruiting

March - May

Propagation Technique

Difficult. Should not be removed from the wild.

Threats

Not Threatened

Chromosome No.

2n = 36

Endemic Taxon

Yes

Endemic Genus

No

Endemic Family

No

Life Cycle and Dispersal

Seeds dispersed by ballistic projection, wind and water (Thorsen et al., 2009)

This page last updated on 26 Sep 2014