Puccinellia macquariensis
Common name
Macquarie Island saltgrass
Synonyms
Triodia macquariensis Cheeseman
Family
Poaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Native
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Grasses
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.
PUCMAC
Chromosome number
2n = 28
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 | Not Evaluated
Previous conservation statuses
2009 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: RR
2004 | Range Restricted
Distribution
Endemic. Macquarie Island.
Habitat
Mainly coastal where abundant in dense patches on rock stacks and cliffs
Detailed description
Perennial tufts, 40–250 mm, with culms ± hidden by leaf-sheaths and panicles overtopped by the soft, dull green leaves; branching intravaginal. Leaf-sheath glabrous, hyaline, whitish green, much wider than leaf-blade. Ligule 0.7–1.5 mm, erose. Leaf-blade 20–80 × c. 1 mm, flat or folded, sometimes with inrolled margins, glabrous throughout, leaf apex obtuse. Culm erect, or geniculate at base, internodes glabrous. Panicle 15–60 × 0.5–1.0 mm, lanceolate; branches few, short, erect, sharply angled, smooth to sparsely scabrid. Spikelets 4–8 mm, 3–5-flowered, pale green, sometimes purplish. Glumes ± unequal, elliptic-ovate to elliptic-oblong, obtuse; lower 1.6–2.6 mm. 1–3-nerved, upper 2.0–3.5 mm, 3–5-nerved. Lemma 3–4 mm, 5-nerved, elliptic to elliptic-oblong, glabrous or with a few hairs at base and on nerves near base, mid-nerve almost reaching obtuse apex. Palea more or less the same as lemma in length, keels conspicuously long-ciliate at midway with shorter prickle-teeth in upper ¼, and glabrous in lower ¼, apex truncate to bifid, keels not excurrent. Rachilla 0.7–1.2 mm. Anthers 0.4–0.9 mm. Seed 1.5–1.7 × 0.6–0.8 mm.
Manaaki Whenua Online Interactive Key
Similar taxa
Endemic to Macquarie Island where it is the only species of Puccinellia Parl. present. It is perhaps closest to the P. walkeri (Kirk) Allan group from which it differs by the hyaline, whitish rather than fimrly membranous, straw-coloured, greyish, greenish-brown or purple leaf-sheath; smooth rather than adaxially scabrid leaf-blade and margins; and by the palea keels conspicuously ciliate at midway rather than node.
Flowering
Unknown
Fruiting
Unknown
Propagation technique
Not known from cultivation.
Threats
This is a Macquarie Island endemic and occurs in the New Zealand Botanical Region but it is not encompassed by the New Zealand threat classification process as Macquarie is under the management of Australia.
Cats, rats, mice and rabbits introduced by sealers in the early 1800s posed a significant threat to sepcies endemic to Maquarie Island an when cats were initially erdaticated nearly a century later there was an explosion rabbits numbers. Further efforts were made to remove rodent pests by the Australian Government and in 2014 Macqurie was declared pest free.
Etymology
puccinellia: After the italian botanist Benedetto Puccinelli (1808 - 1850).
macquariensis: From Macquarie Island
Where To Buy
Not commercially available
Attribution
Description modified from Edgar and Connor (2000).
References and further reading
Edgar E, Connor HE. 2000. Flora of New Zealand. Vol. V. Grasses. Manaaki Whenua Press, Christchurch, NZ. 650 p.