Species

Selliera rotundifolia

Etymology

Selliera: after Sellier
rotundifolia: round leaf; from the Latin rotundus and folium

Common Name(s)

Selliera

Current Conservation Status

2012 - At Risk - Declining

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 - Declining
2004 - Gradual Decline

Qualifiers

2012 - RR

Authority

Selliera rotundifolia Heenan

Family

Goodeniaceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Native

NVS Species Code

SELROT

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.

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Herbs other than Composites

Synonyms

None

Distribution

Endemic. New Zealand: North Island (westerly from about Whanganui south to Paekakariki).

Habitat

In dune fields where it grows in seasonally damp swales (depressions), occasionally found along the margins of slow flowing tidal streams.

Features

Rhizomatous, mat-forming herb, forming dense patches up to 700 mm diam., or diffuse patches when trailing through other vegetation. Stems 1-2 mm diam. Petiole 3-7(-17) x 0.5-1 mm, distinct from leaf. Leaves dark green, glabrous, alternate, appressed to ground, lamina 3-7 x 3-5 mm, rotund, orbicular, leathery, entire, apex obtuse, base obtuse. Flowers single, arising in leaf axils. Pedicel 3-9 mm, glabrous, green to red-green, erect or spreading; bracts 1.5-2 x 0.7-0.9 mm, lanceolate, falcate, green, erect. Sepals 1-1.4 x 0.7-0.9 mm, narrow-triangular, distal part flushed red, apex subacute. Corolla 7-8 x 8-9 mm, 5 petals fused in proximal part, inner surface white, outer pale red. Petals 3-4 x 1.5-2 mm, lanceolate, falcate. Ovary 1.4-1.6 mm, green, glabrous. Style purple-red, stigma glabrous, orange brown. Stamens 3, orange-brown. Fruit 2-3 x 2-3 mm, ovoid, green. Seeds 1.5 x 1 mm, cream-white, compressed.

Similar Taxa

Distinguished from the allied S. microphlla and S. radicans by the distinctive, small, rounded to completely orbicular leaves.

Flowering

December - February

Flower Colours

Red / Pink,White

Fruiting

January - May

Propagation Technique

Easy from the division of whole plants. An excellent ground cover for sunny, well drained or water logged soils.

Threats

This species is threatened throughout its range by the spread of faster growing and taller weed species which are rapidly modifying the damp, dune swale and estuarine habitats this species favours.

Chromosome No.

2n = 16

Endemic Taxon

Yes

Endemic Genus

No

Endemic Family

No

Attribution

Fact sheet prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange 18 June 2006. Description adapted from Heenan (1997).

References and further reading

Duguid, F. 1985. Selliera radicans with regular corolla. Wellington Botanical Society Bulletin, 42: 84 

Heenan, P. B. 1997: Selliera rotundifolia (Goodeniaceae), a new, round-leaved, species from New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 35(2): 133-138

This page last updated on 19 Dec 2014