Celmisia macmahonii var. hadfieldii
Common name
Hadfield’s rock daisy
Synonyms
None
Family
Asteraceae
Flora category
Vascular – Native
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledonous composites
NVS code
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.
CELMVH
Chromosome number
2n = 108
Current conservation status
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2017 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes a statistical summary and brief notes on changes since 2012 and replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants.
Please note, threat classifications are often suggested by authors when publications fall between NZTCS assessment periods – an interim threat classification status has not been assessed by the NZTCS panel.
- Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017 . 2018. Peter J. de Lange, Jeremy R. Rolfe, John W. Barkla, Shannel P. Courtney, Paul D. Champion, Leon R. Perrie, Sarah M. Beadel, Kerry A. Ford, Ilse Breitwieser, Ines Schönberger, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Peter B. Heenan and Kate Ladley. Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2017 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: RR
Previous conservation statuses
2012 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: RR
2009 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon
2004 | Range Restricted
Distribution
Endemic. South Island: Wairau Mountains (Mounts Fishtail, Rintoul, Richmond, and Royal Knob)
Habitat
Alpine. Restricted to rock-crevices and ledges along cliff faces
Detailed description
Small subshrub arising from a hard, woody, deeply descending rootstock. Plants forming compact cushions up to c. 400 mm diameter; stems and branches stout, woody; branchlets very densely compacted with living leaves held in dense rosettes at the branchlet apices. Lamina c.25-30 × 4-5 mm, linear-subulate, rigid, coriaceous; both surfaces densely clad in buff to ferruginous long subappressed silky hairs; apex apiculate; margins slightly narrowed to petiole c. 6-7 mm. long; sheath c.15 × 7 mm, adaxially distinctly veined, glabrate, abaxially sparsely hairy. Scape c. 75-130 mm long, densely clad in floccose buff to ferruginous tomentum; bracts numerous, crowded, 20 × 1-2 mm long, linear-subulate, ascending, surfaces floccose. Capitula 20-25 mm diameter; involucral bracts linear-subulate, up to c.12 mm long, acute to acuminate, densely clad on both surfaces in long silky buff hairs. Ray-florets ± 12-15 mm long, white; limb oblong, distinctly 3-toothed; disk-florets tubular, flaring at teeth, 5-7 mm long. Achenes compressed-cylindric, grooved, ± 2 mm long; ribs clad in long ascending hairs. Pappus-hairs up to c. 6 mm long, slender, white, finely barbellate
Similar taxa
C. macmahonii var. macmahonii, is very closely related, and differs mainly by its larger overall dimensions, and distinctly hairy leaves without apiculate apices. Celmisia macmahonii var. macmahonii is confined to Mt Stokes and nearby Macmahon
Flowering
November - February
Flower colours
White
Fruiting
April - July
Propagation technique
Can be grown from fresh seed and divisions of whole plants. Tricky and difficult to maintain in cultivation without specialist care and an alpine house.
Threats
A naturally uncommon species that does not appear to be actively threatened
Etymology
celmisia: Apparently named after Kelmis, one of Idaean Dactyls, a group of skilled mythical beings associated with the Mother Goddess Rhea in Greek mythology. Kelmis, whose name means ‘casting’, was a blacksmith and childhood friend of Zeus, son of Rhea and later king of the gods. In Ovid’s ‘Metamorphoses’, Kelmis is described as offending Zeus who turned him into adamant so he was as hard as a tempered blade
Attribution
Description adapted from Allan (1961)
References and further reading
Allan, H.H. 1961: Flora of New Zealand. Vol. I, Government Printer, Wellington.