Species
Dracophyllum ophioliticum
Etymology
Dracophyllum: dragon leaf, from its likeness to the dragon tree of the Canary Islands
Common Name(s)
Asbestos Inaka, Asbestos Turpentine Tree
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 - OL
Authority
Dracophyllum ophioliticum S.Venter
Family
Ericaceae
Brief Description
Sprawling grassy shrub with many branches bearing long narrow pointed leaves towards their tip and inhabiting a small area of the upper Takaka River. Leaves blue-green to brown-green, 21-50mm long, very narrow, base enclosing stem. Flowers small, white, tubular, in small groups at tops of twigs.
Flora Category
Vascular - Native
DRAOPH
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 Trees & Shrubs
Synonyms
None (described in 2002)
Distribution
Endemic. New Zealand: South Island, restricted to the Cobb and Takaka valleys in Kahurangi National Park, North-West Nelson.
Habitat
Montane to subalpine (457-1000 m a.s.l.). Dracophyllum ophioliticum is restricted to serpentinite rocks with asbestos veins, where it grows in rock crevices, or in greyish to reddish brown clay loam on steep mountain slopes within opens ground or amongst Leptospermum scoparium shrub/wood.
Features
Shrub 0.3m-1.0 m tall but reaching 2.0 m in shade, multi-stemmed, decumbent; bark grey and finely fissured. Leaves spreading and crowded at the tips of branches, sheathing at base; sheath glaucous to light green, 4-9 mm x4-8 mm, coriaceous, striate, shoulder rounded to truncate, margin ciliate; lamina coriaceous, glaucous to light green, linear-triangular, 2-50 x 1.0-2.5 mm, slightly concave, surfaces minutely verrucose and covered in short, white scabrid caducous hairs; margin serrulate, with 10-13 teeth per cm; apex triquetrous. Inflorescence an oblong raceme terminating lateral branchlets, dense, 13-28 mm long with 3-9 flowers; inflorescence bracts persistent, longer than flower, coriaceous, subulate, 13.9-22.2 x 0.7-0.9 mm at base, rugose with serrulate margin; flower bract persistent, shorter than flower, coriaceous, keeled, broadly ovate, 4.5-8.0 x 2.5-4.0 mm, adaxial surface scabrid in distal third, abaxial surface with scabrid hairs; margin white, ciliate; apex acute. Pedicel 1.5-2.0 mm long. Sepals green, ovate-lanceolate, 4-6 x1.5-3.0 mm, shorter than corolla tube, adaxial surface glabrous with scabrid hairs at apex; abaxial surface with scattered scabrid hairs; margin white, ciliate; apex acute. Corolla white; tube cylindrical with mouth narrowed, 5.5-6.5 x 2.0-2.5 mm, glabrous; lobes reflexed, triangular, shorter than corolla tube, 1.8-2.0 x 1.5-2.0 mm, apex inflexed, subacute, adaxial surface papillate, abaxial surface glabrous. Stamens epipetalous, in upper third of corolla tube, filaments 0.5 mm long; anthers light yellow, oblong, 1 mm long, included. Nectary scales separate, rectangular, 1.0- 1.2 x 0.6-0.7 mm, apex truncate and emarginate to variously toothed, glabrous; ovary obovate, 1.5 x 1.5 mm, glabrous; style enclosed, 1.5 mm long, glabrous; stigma 5-lobed. Capsule pedicellate, light brown, 2.7-4.0 x 2.5-2.7 mm, obovoid, glabrous, enclosed in persistent sepals; style persistent; seed yellowish brown, ovoid, 0.8-1.0 mm long, surface prominantly reticulate.
Similar Taxa
Similar to D. filifolium but differs in being multi-stemmed, stems decumbent, leaves glaucous, minutely verrucose and covered with scabrid hairs when young; flower pedicellate, flower bracts shorter than the flower and keeled, abaxial surface scabrid; sepals shorter than corolla tube, 2-3 mm wide, abaxial surface with scattered scabrid hairs; mouth of corolla tube narrowed and the ovary obovate.
Flowering
January - March
Flower Colours
White
Fruiting
March - May
Propagation Technique
Difficult. Should not be removed from the wild
Threats
Not Threatened. Listed because it is naturally confined to several small areas of ultramafic rock and soils in North-West Nelson.
Endemic Taxon
Yes
Endemic Genus
No
Endemic Family
No
Life Cycle and Dispersal
Minute seeds are wind dispersed (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Where To Buy
Not commercially available.
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange (4 January 2004). Description adapted from Venter (2002)
References and further reading
Venter, S. 2002: Dracophyllum marmoricola and Dracophyllum ophioliticum (Ericaceae), two new species from north-west Nelson, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 40: 39-47.
Thorsen, M. J.; Dickinson, K. J. M.; Seddon, P. J. 2009. Seed dispersal systems in the New Zealand flora. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 11: 285-309
This page last updated on 30 Jul 2014