Species
Gentianella magnifica
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)
magnifica: Meaning 'splendid'
Common Name(s)
Scree 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 - DP, RR
2009 - ST
Authority
Gentianella magnifica (Kirk) Glenny
Family
Gentianaceae
Flora Category
Vascular - Native
GNTDIV
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 Herbs other than Composites
Synonyms
Gentiana bellidifolia var. magnifica Kirk, Gentiana divisa var. magnifica (Kirk) Allan
Distribution
Endemic. New Zealand: South Island, (Marlborough (Rachel and Crimea Ranges), North Canterbury, Mt Captain and Mt Miromiro)
Habitat
Alpine. In mobile and stable scree, comprised mostly of finely shattered black argillite. Rarely in and around rock outcrops on sparsely vegetated gravel pavements
Features
Plants monocarpic or polycarpic, biennial or perennial, height in flower 75–190 mm. Caudex unbranched, 70–80 mm long. Root 8–13 mm diameter at stem base and 400–800 mm long. Flowering stems terminal and lateral, 10–40 per plant, terminal flowering stem 5.7–7.3 mm diameter at base, green; lateral flowering stems erect; flowering stem leaves 2–6 pairs per stem, lowest pedicels from near apex of flowering stems. Rosette of leaves absent from flowering plants, lower stem leaves narrowly elliptic, 35.0–105.0 × 10.0–15.5 mm, green, margins sometimes crimson, flat or channelled, apex acute; petiole absent, leaves 4.4–9.2 mm wide at base. Flowering stem leaves narrowly ovate. Pedicels 1 per leaf axil, 10–52 mm long, 1.4–1.5 mm diameter. Flowers 45–256 per plant, 19–26 mm long. Calyx 12.3–20 mm long, green, hairs at calyx–corolla fusion line absent or present; lobes 8.5–10.0(–14.5) mm long, 4.3–5.4 mm wide at base, plane, apices acute, margins smooth, sinus hairs abundant. Corolla 17.2–24.5 mm long, white, veins uncoloured; tube 4.7–8.1 mm long; lobes 12.4–16.4 × 8.0–10.8 mm, hairs below sinus present; nectary 1.6–3.3 mm from corolla base. Filaments 10.7–16 mm long from corolla base, 1.2–1.5 mm wide. Anthers 2.0–2.9 mm long, anther wall blue-black, mouth yellow, extrorse at anthesis; pollen yellow. Stigma colourless. Ovules 9–37 per ovary, ovary turning dark purple in maturity. Capsule 19–25 mm long. Seeds 1.1–1.5 mm diameter.
Similar Taxa
Similar to Gentianella divisa but larger in most dimensions; with fewer ovules (9–23 per ovary, cf. 29–56 per ovary in G. divisa), and the seeds are larger (1.1–1.5 mm diameter c.0.74 mm diameter in G. divisa). Gentianella divisa does not usually grow in such fine-grained, mobile screes as G. magnifica and so far as is known it is not present in the same mountain ranges as G. magnifica.
Flowering
February - March
Flower Colours
White,Yellow
Fruiting
April - May
Propagation Technique
Difficult. Should not be removed from the wild
Threats
A Naturally Uncommon, Range-restricted and biologically sparsely distributed species known from very few, widely scattered sites. Most populations are small but there are no known threats in its high altitude (up to 1900 m a.s.l.) habitats and the species seems for the moment at least to be secure.
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)
Where To Buy
Not Commercially Available
Attribution
Description modified from Glenny (2004)
References and further reading
Glenny, D. 2004: A revision of the genus Gentianella in New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 42: 361-530.
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 26 Sep 2014