The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network

Species

Pimelea orthia

Etymology

Pimelea: from the Greek pimele, referring to the seeds

Common Name(s)

Pimelea

Current Conservation Status

2009 - Data Deficient

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 - Data Deficient

Authority

Pimelea orthia C.J.Burrows et Thorsen

Family

Thymelaeaceae

Brief Description

Bushy shrub to 90cm tall with many erect hairy branches bearing pairs of blue-green leaves and hairy white flowers and white fruit inhabiting the upper North Island. Leaves 5-8mm long by 2-3mm wide.

Flora Category

Vascular - Native

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Trees & Shrubs

Synonyms

Pimelea laevigata var. erecta, Pimela prostrata var. erecta nom. illeg.; Pimelea orthia subsp. protea C.J.Burrows et Thorsen

Distribution

Endemic. North Island: North Auckland (scattered localities from Mangonui to Auckland City), South Auckland-King Country, Coromandel Peninsula, eastern Bay of Plenty (Whakatane, Kohi Point, Ohiwa Harbour); East Cape – Gisborne (near Ngatapa), Mahia.

Habitat

Coastal to lowland. In open scrubland and grassland overlying leached, infertile soils, or on dunes and rock outcrops.

Features

Fastigiate to bushy, few to much-branched shrubs, up to 900 mm tall, often shorter, with relatively few, stiffly erect or divergent to prostrate, straight main branches and thin, usually ascendant, lateral branches of varied form. On different plants these may be short and straight, long and straight, or short and repeatedly sympodially branched. Young branchlets clad in sparse to moderately dense, appressed, grey-white, short, silky hair; internodes 0.5–2.5 mm, older stems glabrous, grey or brown (bark wrinkled on dried specimens). Node buttresses brown, extending part way down or the full length of the internode, not very prominent on leafless stems. Leaves decussate, ascendant, then patent or deflexed, on short (0.5 mm) red petioles, often persistent. Lamina flat to slightly keeled, relatively thin, 5–8 × 2–3 mm (smaller on lateral branchlets), elliptic or ovate, glabrous, glaucous or pale green, acute, but tip blunt, or obtuse. Stomata abundant on adaxial and abaxial sides. Inflorescences terminal on main stems or lateral branchlets, 2–12-flowered, loose. Involucral bracts 4, similar in size to adjacent leaves or slightly wider (7 × 3 mm), partly hiding the flowers. Receptacles moderately hairy. Plants gynodioecious. Flowers white on short pedicels (0.8 mm); outside of tube and calyx lobes moderately hairy; inside hairy in upper tube and ovary portion. Female tube 2 mm long, ovary portion wrinkled, 1.7 mm long, calyx lobes 1.2 × 1.0 mm; hermaphrodite tube 3.2 mm long, ovary portion 1.5 mm, calyx lobes 2.7 × 1.4 mm. Anther dehiscence semilatrorse. Ovary summit sparsely hairy. Fruits fleshy, ovoid, white, opaque, 5 × 2.9 mm. Seeds broadovoid 2.1 × 1.4 mm. Crest thin.

Similar Taxa

Pimelea orthia is part of the P. prostrata complex. Burrows (2009) allies it with P. xenica and P. actea; species from which it is distinguished by its much-branched mostly erect growth form. Within P. orthia Burrows (2009) recognises two subspecies of which subsp. protea is not accepted here because the distinctions offered are not maintained in cultivation, they are seen also in other populations of subsp. orthia, and the claims of ecological differences between both subspecies are incorrect. Further investigation into the status of subsp. protea is required.

Flowering

September - May

Flower Colours

White

Fruiting

November - July

Propagation Technique

Easily grown from semi-hardwood cuttings and rooted pieces. Seed is difficult to germinate. Best grown in a well drained soil in full sun. An excellent plant for the rockery

Threats

Probably highly threatened but until Burrows (2009) established the exact taxonomic status of this plant it has been widely confused with a range of other members of the P. prostrata complex. Recent (2000+) records have come from near Mangawhai, near Whakatane, Ohiwa Harbour and at Mahia Peninsula. Most of these sites are roadside or trackside habitats vulnerable to clearance. However, a definitive threat status cannot be given until better information is obtained, until such time this species probably warrants the current threat listing awarded it by de Lange et al. (2009) where it is listed under Appendix 2, as Data Deficient under the illegitimate name Pimelea prostrata var. erecta Cheeseman

Chromosome No.

2n = 36

Endemic Taxon

Yes

Endemic Genus

No

Endemic Family

No

Life Cycle and Dispersal

Fleshy drupes are dispersed by frugivory (Thorsen et al., 2009).

This page last updated on 8 Aug 2014