The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network

Species

Olearia telmatica

Etymology

Olearia: Derived from the latinised name (Olearius) of the 17th century German botanist Adam Oelenschlager

Common Name(s)

shell akeake, swamp akeake

Current Conservation Status

2012 - Threatened - Nationally Vulnerable

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 Vulnerable
2004 - Not Threatened

Qualifiers

2012 - CD, DP, IE, RF
2009 - CD, DP, IE, RF

Authority

Olearia telmatica Heenan et de Lange

Family

Asteraceae

Brief Description

Small tree with oval dark green leathery leaves that are whiteish underneath inhabiting damp sites on the Chatham Islands. Trunk often hollow. Leaves 15-70mm long by 6-35mm wide. Flowers yellowish, in small clusters, appearing late winter. Seeds fluffy.

Flora Category

Vascular - Native

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Trees & Shrubs

Synonyms

None. First described in December 2008

Distribution

Endemic. Chatham Islands: Rekohu (Chatham) and Rangiauria (Pitt) Islands.

Habitat

A conspicuous component of Chatham Island swamp forest, a vegetation type that has developed in sites that are either prone to seasonal flooding or almost permanently flooded throughout the year. These habitats include the margins of lakes, ponds, and slowly flowing rivers and streams, around springs or in other sites with perched water tables.

Features

Small tree 4–8 m tall; main trunks up to 400 mm diameter. Bark light grey, shallowly fissured and smoothly textured on trunk and old branches; branchlets 1.6–2.1 mm diameter. Leaves 14–70 × 6–35 mm, elliptic, broadly elliptic, or obovate, upper surface green and glossy, lower surface with dense appressed tomentum, hairs fulvous or off-white, margin entire, apex acute to subacute, base cuneate to attenuate, petiole 4–7 mm long. Inflorescence an axillary panicle with 4–17 capitula, abscissing after fruiting; panicle primary branches in 2–4 opposite pairs, lowest pair of branches each with 1–3 capitula, upper branches each with 1 capitulum, capitula in opposite pairs; covered in fulvous or off-white hairs. Capitulum 5.0–7.2 mm long, involucre cylindric; involucral bracts 10–14, in 1–2 series, upper surface glabrous, lower surface sparsely to moderately covered with fulvous hairs. Florets 7–11 per capitulum; corolla usually lemon-yellow, sometimes cream to pale yellow. Achenes 1.4–1.7 × 0.6–0.7 mm, narrowly cylindric, light brown, with 4–5 pale ribs, sparsely to moderately hairy; pappus 2.8–4.2 mm long, finely scabrid.

Similar Taxa

Olearia telmatica differs from the closely related akeake (O. traversiorum) by its restriction to permanently flooded swamp habitats, smaller stature, slender trunk, narrower leaves, lemon-yellow and less hairy corolla, less branched inflorescence with fewer capitula, fulvous hairs on the inflorescence, earlier flowering season, readily dispersed seed, and abscising inflorescences

Flowering

August – October

Flower Colours

Cream,Yellow

Fruiting

October – January

Propagation Technique

Easily grown from fresh seed and semi-hardwood cuttings. Plants layer readily. Probably would flourish best in a permanently moist soil.

Threats

Shell akeake was formerly widespread across the two main islands, Rekohu (Chatham Island) and Rangiauria (Pitt Island). However most of its swamp forest habitat has now been cleared and there are very few places where this habitat survives intact. Most of the remaining swamp forest remnants on the islands are unfenced and stock have frequent access, and peripheral damage caused by wind throw, and the drying out of the peat soils are serious threats both to the species and this vegetation type. Another serious threat is recruitment failure. While seedlings are frequently seen in the more intact, and wetter swamp forest remnants, it seems that very few of these reach maturity.

Chromosome No.

2n = 108

Endemic Taxon

Yes

Endemic Genus

No

Endemic Family

No

This page last updated on 6 Aug 2019