The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network

Species

Ourisia confertifolia

Etymology

Ourisia: after Ouris, governor of the Falkland Islands

Common Name(s)

Mountain Foxglove

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, Sp

Authority

Ourisia confertifolia Arroyo

Family

Plantaginaceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Native

NVS Species Code

OURCON

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Herbs other than Composites

Synonyms

None (described in 1984)

Distribution

Endemic. South Island westerly from Haast Pass south to Fiordland

Habitat

Alpine (1200 - 2200 m a.s.l.) on soil or bare rock, boulders, cliff faces and rock crevices or in open herbfield and tussock grassland.

Features

Perennial herbs 35-88 mm tall, with erect inflorescences and repent leaves; stems 2.3-4.3 mm diameter; internodes 1.2-6.3 mm long, glabrous. Leaves rosulate, congested, rarely in subrosettes or opposite on creeping stem; petiole 3.5-15.0 x 1.6-8.6 mm, glabrescent, bearing sparse glandular/eglandular hairs on margins only; lamina 4.8-15.3 x 5.5-16.3 mm, spathulate, broadly to very broadly obovate, apex rounded, base cuneate, tapering with wide petiole, margin crenate or notched, upper surface glandular/eglandular silky-hairy, undersides punctate, glabrescent, with sparse glandular/eglandular hairs on the prominent veins. Inflorescences 1-6-flowered raceme, 35-105 mm long, bracteate bearing 1-3- flowering nodes, each bearing 2 bracts and 1-2 flowers; peduncles 0.9-2.3 mm diameter, glandular/eglandular pilose, villous. Floral bracts up to 7.7-12.6 x 3.8-7.6 mm, sessile, parallel to, and clasping peduncle, oblanceolate to broadly obovate, margin with regular to irregular notches near apex, densely glandular/eglandular pilose, villous. Flowers 11.8-19.3 x 9.4-16.5 mm; pedicel 7.5-20.3 mm long, glandular/eglandular pilose to villous. Calyx 5.5-8.8 x 4.5-11.3 mm, irregular, externally and on margins glandular/eglandular villous; anterior calyx lobes 4.6-9.4 x 1.9-3.9 mm, posterior calyx lobes 1.1-2.0 x 1.3-2.9 mm, 3 posterior lobes divided 1.4 the length of the calyx or less, 2 anterior lobes divided to near base, lanceolate to narrowly ovate, tapering to a subacute or rounded apex, undersides prominently 3-veined. Corolla 14.5-19.4 x 17.7-20.6 mm when flattened, bilabiate, tubular-funnelform, straight or curved, white, glabrous externally; tube 4.8-11.0 x 4.4-6.4 mm at apex, 2.0-3.9 mm at base, not constricted near base, yellow inside, glabrous; anterior corolla lobes 6.8-9.6 x 3.3-7.3 mm at widest point, 1.8-3.0 mm wide at base, posterior corolla lobes 5.5-7.3 x 2.7-6.1 mm wide at widest point, 1.7-3.0 mm wide at base, spreading, obovate apex plane, sometimes undulate or irregular. Stamens 4, didynamous; comprising two long stamens 6.1-7.6 mm long, included or exserted, and two short stamens 3.8-6.0 mm long, included or equal with lip; anthers 0.6-1.8 x 0.7-1.6 mm, reniform to horseshoe-shaped; staminode c.0.2 mm long, inserted c.0.1 mm above base of corolla, or absent. Style 3.2-4.8 mm long, base slightly bent, included or slightly exserted; stigma 0.4-1.0 mm diameter, emarginate; ovary 2.6-4.6 x 1.8-3.7 mm, glabrous. Capsules 4.5-7.1 x 3.3-4.8 mm, glabrous, with loculicidal dehiscence; fruiting pedicels 15.1-21.6 mm long. Seeds 0.7-1.0 x 0.4-0.5 mm.

Similar Taxa

From all other Ourisia except O. simpsonii (L.B.Moore) Arroyo, it differs by the yellow, glabrous internal corolla tube, irregular calyces, glabrous leaf undersides, bracts, and paired flowers (which are never in whorls) in each flowering node. From O. simpsonii it differs by the smaller, narrower flowers and shorter styles (up to 4.9 cf. up to 7.5 mm). The corolla tube of O. simpsonii is sometimes purple (externally and internally), a colour never seen in O. confertifolia. Both species are allopatric, with O. simpsonii restricted to the northern half of the South Island and O. confertifolia the southern third.

Flowering

November - February

Flower Colours

White

Fruiting

January - May

Propagation Technique

Difficult - should not be removed from the wild

Threats

Not Threatened. Listed because it is considered to be a localised endemic.

Chromosome No.

2n = 48

Endemic Taxon

Yes

Endemic Genus

No

Endemic Family

No

This page last updated on 3 Jan 2014