Myosotis venticola
Family
Boraginaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Native
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
Chromosome number
Unknown
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.
Distribution
New Zealand. South Island: Canterbury, Otago (St Bathans); Mackenzie (Lake Ōhau).
Habitat
On rock or scree slopes, flat spur shoulders, exposed stony, rocky or gravelly ground, or loose sandstone rock; in sparsely vegetated cushion herbfield, degraded tussockland, or high alpine fellfield; with Abrotanella inconspicua, Aciphylla hectori, Agrostis muelleriana, Anisotome flexuosa, Anisotome imbricata, Azorella exigua, Chionochloa macra, Colobanthus buchananii, Craspedia sp., Dracophyllum muscoides, Epilobium sp., Gaultheria depressa, Hieracium sp., Kelleria dieffenbachii, Koeleria cheesemanii, Leptinella pectinata, Luzula pumila, Luzula rufa var. albicomans, Lycopodium fastigiatum, Notogrammitis crassior, Poa colensoi, Racomitrium sp., Ranunculus sp., Raoulia hectorii, Veronica densifolia, Veronica thomsonii, Wahlenbergia albomarginata.
Detailed description
Single rosette with fibrous roots, often clustered with other rosettes forming loose or tight clumps or mats. Rosette leaves 5–30, petiolate; petioles not sheathing, 1.9–7.4 mm long, 0.9–5.4 mm wide; lamina 3.3–11.9 mm long, 2.5–6.6 mm wide (length:width ratio 1.1–2.1:1), widest point at or above middle (rarely below middle), narrowly obovate or obovate, rarely elliptic, narrowly ovate, ovate, broadly obovate or very broadly obovate; apex obtuse, with hydathode on abaxial side; trichomes 0.3–2.0 mm long, flexuous mostly, some straight, adaxially antrorse usually mixed with some retrorse (rarely antrorse only), appressed or patent, oriented mostly parallel, some oblique to the midrib, densely distributed and overlapping, marginally antrorse, appressed or patent, sometimes becoming erect on petiole (rarely mostly erect), densely distributed and overlapping, abaxially mostly retrorse, but often antrorse near apex, appressed or patent, oriented parallel mostly, some oblique to the midrib, densely distributed and overlapping; ratio of rosette-leaf trichome length to rosette-leaf length 0.1–0.2:1. Inflorescences 3–16 per rosette, prostrate or ascending, unbranched, up to 19–47 mm long, partially or wholly bracteate, at least the lowest 1 or 2 flowers subtended by cauline leaves, with up to 5–8 cauline leaves per inflorescence (including all branches) and, of these, 1–4 associated with flowers; adventitious roots lacking at tips; scape 0.5–0.9 mm wide; trichomes 0.2–1.7 mm long, mostly flexuous, some straight, mix of antrorse and retrorse, appressed to patent, densely distributed and overlapping. Lowest cauline leaves generally petiolate; petioles 2.0–5.6 mm long, 0.8–1.6 mm wide; lamina 3.5–12.1 mm long, 1.9–5.0 mm wide (length:width ratio 1.5–2.9:1), widest at or above middle, oblanceolate or narrowly obovate; apex obtuse, rarely acute, with hydathode; trichomes as on rosette leaves. Uppermost cauline leaf sessile; lamina 5.3– 7.4 mm long, 1.0–2.8 mm wide (length:width ratio 2.4–6, 3.7:1), widest at, below or above middle, lanceolate, narrowly lanceolate, oblanceolate, narrowly obovate, rarely narrowly oblanceolate; apex acute; trichomes as on rosette leaves. Flowers up to 3–6 per inflorescence (including all branches). Internodes up to 2.4 mm long at flowering and up to 2.8 mm long at fruiting. Pedicels up to 1.6 mm at flowering and up to 2.8 mm at fruiting; trichomes 0.2–0.7 mm long, mostly flexuous, some straight, mix of antrorse and retrorse (rarely antrorse only), appressed to patent, densely distributed and overlapping. Calyx 4.7–6.1 mm long at flowering, 5.0–7.8 mm long at fruiting, 1.6–3.2 mm wide at the top at fruiting; calyx lobes 1.2– 3.0 mm long, 0.6–1.0 mm wide at fruiting, lobed to 0.2–0.4× the length of the calyx; trichomes 0.2–1.3 mm long, mostly flexuous, some straight or curved, rarely few hooked, mix of retrorse and antrorse hairs throughout, but mostly antrorse distally and retrorse proximally, appressed to patent, densely distributed and overlapping, and inside densely distributed and sometimes overlapping, rarely sparsely distributed. Corolla 3.0–5.0 mm wide in diameter (measured) or 6.0–7.5 mm (calculated), white with yellow faucal scales; corolla lobes 2.2– 2.7 mm long, 1.7–2.5 mm wide (length:width ratio 1.0–1.3:1), broadly or very broadly obovate; corolla tube 3.7–6.3 mm long from base to faucal scales, 1.5–2.1 mm wide at faucal scales. Stamens 4.7–6.6 mm long; filaments 0.2–0.3 mm long, attached to corolla tube ~0.3–0.5 mm below base of faucal scales, 3.1–4.6 mm from base of corolla tube; anthers 1.2–1.7 mm long, partly exserted, tips only surpassing faucal scales. Style 4.6–7.5 mm long at flowering, 4.3–9.0 mm long at fruiting. Nutlets 4, 1.5–2.1 mm long, 0.9–1.3 mm wide (length:width ratio 1.5–1.8:1), ovoid, keeled, rimmed or scarcely rimmed, dark brown, sometimes medium brown
Similar taxa
Differs from all other southern hemisphere Myosotis species (except M. oreophila) in the presence of retrorse trichomes mixed with antrorse trichomes on the adaxial side of the rosette and cauline leaves; differs from all other New Zealand bracteate–prostrate species in its retrorse trichomes on the branches, its partially bracteate inflorescences (except some individuals of M. lyallii), and its mix of retrorse and antrorse trichomes on the rosette leaves abaxially (except for M. retrorsa and M. umbrosa); differs from M. retrorsa and M. lyallii in its appressed trichomes on the rosette leaf adaxially and on the margins, and unbranched inflorescences; differs from M. cheesemanii in its retrorse hairs present on calyces, and flexuous trichomes on the rosette leaves.
Flowering
Flowering January, fruiting January–February.
Etymology
myosotis: Mouse-eared
venticola: The epithet venticola means ‘wind-dwelling’ or ‘inhabiting windy areas’ and comes from the Latin words ventus, meaning ‘wind’, and cola, meaning ‘dweller’. The epithet refers to the very windy alpine habitats in which plants of this species occur, and is a tribute to the formidable gales we encountered when collecting specimens of it in the Dunstan Mountains.
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared by Marley Ford (8 April 2023). Distribution, Habitat, features and similar taxa sections copied from Meudt & Prebble (2022).
References and further reading
Meudt, H. M., & Prebble, J. M. 2022. Morphological analyses support recognition of three new threatened species of bracteate–prostrate Myosotis (Boraginaceae) endemic to the South Island of Aotearoa New Zealand. Australian Systematic Botany, 35(5), 364-394.