Species
Wahlenbergia pygmaea subsp. pygmaea
Etymology
Wahlenbergia: Named in honour of Wahlenberg, a Swedish botanist and author of A Botany of Lapland.
pygmaea: tiny
Common Name(s)
North Island harebell
Current Conservation Status
2012 - Not Threatened
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 - Not Threatened
2004 - Not Threatened
Authority
Wahlenbergia pygmaea Colenso subsp. pygmaea
Family
Campanulaceae
Flora Category
Vascular - Native
Structural Class
Dicotyledonous Herbs other than Composites
Synonyms
Wahlenbergia pygmaea Colenso; Wahlenbergia pygmaea subsp. tararua J.A.Petterson
Distribution
Endemic. New Zealand: North Island (main axial ranges from the Huiarau to Tararua Ranges and adjacent Volcanic Peaks (except Mt Taranaki).
Habitat
Montane to alpine. Common in herbfield, tussock-grassland, on lava fields, and rocks. Usually above the forest line but extending down rivers.
Features
Perennial rhizomatous herb with rosulate tufts of leaves at ground level. Leaves bright green, glossy, glabrous or with a few scattered hairs, petiolate; lamina spathulate, 10 × 3 to 20 × 5 mm, 2 mm wide. Leaf margins sparsely toothed, usually red-tinged. Flowers usually insect-pollinated, some forms self-fertile; erect or nodding on short upright scapes, 40-100 mm tall, which may be naked or 1-2-bracted. Corolla soft blue, or blue and white; up to 30 mm diameter, up to 18 mm long, broadly campanulate with tube as broad as or broader than long, lobes c.9 × 7 mm, spreading, broadly elliptic-lanceolate, acute. Calyx lobes c.3.0 × 1.5 mm, glabrous, narrow-triangular. Capsule c.10 × 6 mm, glabrous, domed cylindrical to plump barrel-shaped. Seeds ellipsoid, glossy brown.
Similar Taxa
Differs from subsp. drucei by its geographic isolation; by its spathulate leaves whose leaf margins are sparsely toothed and often red-tinged; and by the flowers which are soft blue, white or blue and white
Flowering
December – May
Flower Colours
Blue,White
Fruiting
January - May
Propagation Technique
Easily grown from tip cuttings and the division of whole plants. Fresh seed germinates readily.
Threats
Not Threatened
Chromosome No.
2n = 36
Endemic Taxon
Yes
Endemic Genus
No
Endemic Family
No
Where To Buy
Not commercially available.
TAXONOMIC NOTES
Wahlenbergia pygmaea seems only doubtfully distinct from the earlier named South Island endemic W. albomarginata, and many botanists regard them as conspecific. This requires further study. In the interim Wahlenbergia pygmaea subsp. tararua is here treated as part of W. pygmaea subsp. pygmaea because the morphological distinctions attributed to it by Petterson (1997) are variable and fall within the range of variation seen in W. pygmaea subsp. pygmaea north of the Tararua Ranges.
Attribution
Fact Sheet Prepared by P.J. de Lange 12 June 2007. Description adapted from Petterson (1997).
References and further reading
Petterson, J.A. 1997: Revision of the genus Wahlenbergia (Campanulaceae) in New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botanv 35: 9-54.
This page last updated on 9 Aug 2016