Species

Puccinellia macquariensis

Etymology

Puccinellia: After the italian botanist Benedetto Puccinelli (1808 - 1850).
macquariensis: From Macquarie Island

Common Name(s)

Macquarie Island saltgrass

Current Conservation Status

2009 - At Risk - Naturally Uncommon

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

2004 - Range Restricted

Qualifiers

2009 - RR

Authority

Puccinellia macquariensis (Cheeseman) Allan et Jansen

Family

Poaceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Native

NVS Species Code

PUCMAC

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

Grasses

Synonyms

Triodia macquariensis Cheeseman

Distribution

Endemic. Macquarie Island.

Habitat

Mainly coastal where abundant in dense patches on rock stacks and cliffs

Features

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 x 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 x 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 x 0.6-0.8 mm.

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

Not Threatened. Listed because it is a narrow range endemic known only from Macquarie Island.

Chromosome No.

2n = 28

Endemic Taxon

Yes

Endemic Genus

No

Endemic Family

No

Where To Buy

Not commercially available

Attribution

Description modified from Edgar and Connor (2000).

References and further reading

Edgar, E.; Connor, H.E. 2000: Flora of New Zealand. Vol. V. Grasses. Christchurch, Manaaki Whenua Press. 650 pp.

This page last updated on 14 Jan 2014