The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network

Species

Gentianella decumbens

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)
decumbens: From the Latin decumbere 'to lie down, recline', in botany refers to creeping plants with upright tips

Common Name(s)

Gentian

Current Conservation Status

2012 - At Risk - Naturally Uncommon

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 - At Risk - Naturally Uncommon
2004 - Range Restricted

Qualifiers

2012 - RR

Authority

Gentianella decumbens Glenny

Family

Gentianaceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Native

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Herbs other than Composites

Synonyms

None (described in 2004)

Distribution

Endemic. New Zealand: South Island (north-west Nelson)

Habitat

Alpine. Usually on summit fellfields or along ridge lines on skeletal or stony soils.

Features

Plants polycarpic, height in flower 80–200 mm, plants 170–400 mm diameter. Caudex branched, 40–220 mm long, stolons absent. Root 3.1–6.2 mm diameter at stem base. Flowering stems 1–27 per plant, lateral only, decumbent, green or crimson, largest stems 1.4–2.5 mm diameter; stem leaves 4–9 pairs per stem with internodes often short, the last pair often at the calyx base, sometimes sheathing the stem; lowest pedicels from near apex of flowering stem. Leaf rosette of leaves absent to distinct from flowering stem leaves. Basal leaves elliptic, leaf apex acute to rounded, 16.0–48.0 × 5.3–10.4 mm wide, green without tinting, often turning yellow with age, V-shaped or channelled, recurved toward the leaf apex; petiole moderately distinct, 12–30 mm long, 2.2–3.6 mm wide at leaf base. Pedicels 1 per leaf axil, 0–19 mm long, 1.1–1.7 mm diameter. Flowers 3–72 per plant, 16–20 mm long, rarely female. Calyx 8.0–12.0 mm long, green, hairs at calyx–corolla fusion line present; lobes 5.2–8.4 mm long, 2.6–5.1 mm wide at base, apices acute, margins recurved, smooth to minutely denticulate, sinus hairs abundant. Corolla 14.0–19.8 mm long, white; tube 2.8–6.3 mm long; lobes 10.5–13.4 × 7.3–11.1 mm wide, hairs below sinus abundant; nectary 1.0–2.3 mm from corolla base. Filaments 9.0–12.5 mm long from corolla base, 0.9–1.1 mm wide. Anthers 2.3–2.7 mm long, anther wall blue-black, mouth yellow, extrorse at anthesis. Stigma colourless. Ovules 26–60 per ovary, ovary yellow in maturity. Capsules 18–29 mm long.

Similar Taxa

Distinguished from other New Zealand Gentianella by the long prostrate branches, with plants circular in outline, with the flowers on the perimeter; by the numerous flowering stems (up to 27) per plant), leaves with are green and glossy without secondary pigments; and up to 48 mm long; calyx lobes which range from 2.3–5.1 mm wide; and by the nectary which is located 1.0–2.3 mm from the corolla base.

Flowering

January – March

Flower Colours

White,Yellow

Fruiting

February - April

Propagation Technique

Difficult. Should not be removed from the wild

Threats

A Naturally Uncommon, range-restricted endemic which is sparsely to locally abundant within its key habitats. There are no known threats, and all the known populations occur within Kahurangi National Park.

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