The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network

Species

Gentianella serotina

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)
serotina: Late flowering

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 serotina (Cockayne) T.N.Ho et S.W.Liu

Family

Gentianaceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Native

NVS Species Code

GENSER

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Herbs other than Composites

Synonyms

Gentiana serotina Cockayne, Chionogentias serotina (Cockayne) L.G.Adams, Oreophylax serotinus (Cockayne) Á.Löve nom. inval.

Distribution

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

Habitat

Montane to subalpine. Mostly in tall and short tussocklands and shrub tussocklands of Festuca novae-zelandiae, Chionochloa macra, C. rigida, and C. flavescens. Also on river terraces, valley floors, less often on hillslopes and ridges, usually in well-drained soils, sometimes fringing tarns, rarely on limestone outcrops.

Features

Plants polycarpic, height in flower 80–300 mm. Caudex unbranched or branched, 10–100 mm long, shaggy with dead leaf bases. Root 2.0–6.7 mm diameter at stem base. Flowering stems lateral only, or terminal on rosette-bearing branches, 1–13 per plant, largest fl owering stem 1.9–3.0 mm diameter at base, 1.0–2.0 mm diameter when dry, stem colour green or tinted crimson or purple-black, lateral flowering stems erect or decumbent, flowering stem leaves 1–5 pairs per stem, lowest pedicels from near apex of flowering stem. Rosette of leaves present and distinct from flowering stem leaves, leaves linear to narrowly elliptic, 32.0-160.0 × 3.5–15.0 mm wide, green or tinted crimson or purple-black below and on petiole and veins, sometimes leaf surface speckled purple-black, V-shaped or channelled, recurved or not, apex acute, petiole absent to distinct, 15.0–40.0 × 1.1–3.7–4.0 mm. Flowering stem leaves narrowly elliptic, sessile. Flowers 1–130 per plant, 15–21 mm long. Pedicels 1 or 2 per leaf axil, 12–26 mm long, 0.8–1.4 mm diameter. Calyx 7.4–13.8 mm long, green or green tinted purple-black, hairs at calyx–corolla fusion line absent or present; lobes 4.6–9.7 mm long, 2.0–3.0 mm wide at base, plane, apices acute, margins smooth to denticulate, sinus hairs sparse, rarely abundant. Corolla 14.1–19.5 mm long, white or pale lilac, veins mostly uncoloured, sometime darkly striped magenta; tube 4.3–6.2 mm long; lobes 9.6–13 mm long, 5.6–9.5 mm wide, hairs below sinus present; nectary 0.3–2.2 mm from corolla base. Filaments 7.0–11.2 mm long from corolla base, 0.65–1.4 mm wide. Anthers 1.8–3.2 mm long, anther wall blue-black, mouth yellow, extrorse at anthesis. Stigma colourless. Ovules 15–64 per ovary. Capsule 13–22 mm long.

Similar Taxa

Allied to G. bellidifolia from which it differs by its usually taller growth habit; longer, narrower, flatter leaves; usually more flowering stems and flowers per plant. The flowering stems of G. serotina tend to be decumbent while Otago and Southland plants of G. bellidifolia tend to be erect from the base. G. serotina resembles G. corymbifera subsp. gracilis and grows in the same habitat but differs in being polycarpic rather than biennial, in having only lateral flowering stems, and by having thinner flowering stems (2.8–3.0 mm cf. 4.2–5.3 mm diameter). Some G. serotina populations have high lilac flowers with dark magenta corolla veins

Flowering

February – April

Flower Colours

Violet / Purple,White

Fruiting

April – June

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