The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network

Species

Pimelea barbata subsp. omoia

Etymology

Pimelea: from the Greek pimele, referring to the seeds
barbata: From the Latin 'barbus', meaning bearded or provided with tufts of long weak hairs

Common Name(s)

Pimelea

Current Conservation Status

2012 - 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

2009 - At Risk - Naturally Uncommon
2004 - At Risk - Naturally Uncommon

Qualifiers

2012 - RR

Authority

Pimelea barbata subsp. omoia C.J.Burrows

Family

Thymelaeaceae

Brief Description

Low growing greyish shrub bearing pairs of hairy oval leaves and clusters of white flowers inhabiting sandstone gorges of the Moawhango area of central North Island. Twigs hairy. Leaves dense, variable in size between plants, 8-12mm long by 3-5mm wide. Flowers white, body hairy. Fruit red.

Flora Category

Vascular - Native

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Trees & Shrubs

Synonyms

None - first described in 2011

Distribution

Endemic. New Zealand: North Island (Moawhango River Gorge on the western side of the southern Kaimanawa Range)

Habitat

Montane. Sandstone cliffs and slopes below them, within open shrubland and short grassland

Features

Small to medium-sized prostrate to procumbent shrubs (plants sometimes forming large patches, to 1 m or more wide). Branching mainly sympodial. Young branchlets brown, densely covered by relatively long white to dull-white hairs; internodes 1.5-6.0 mm long; older stems glabrate, grey-brown to brown. Node buttresses lunate (0.4 mm long) masked by hairs on young branchlets, not very prominent on leafless stems. Leaves decussate, on very short petioles (0.4 mm), ascending, often becoming patent to deflexed. Lamina 8-12 × 3-5 mm, broad-elliptic to ovate, often rather variable in size and differing from plant to plant, slightly adaxially concave, acute, base cuneate. Adaxial leaf hairs dense. Vesture short, white, hispid, villous, or rarely curled, usually appressed. Older leaves may be glabrate, dull-green. Mid-vein may be evident abaxially. Stomata on both adaxial and abaxial surfaces. Inflorescences terminal on branchlets, compact, 2-7-flowered. Involucral bracts 4, the same size as or larger than adjacent leaves (7-10 × 4-6 mm). Receptacle with dense, long hairs. Plants gynodioecious. Flowers white on very short pedicels (0.6 mm). Outside densely hairy, inside hairless. Female tube 4 mm long, ovary portion 2 mm, calyx lobes 1.8 × 1.2 mm; hermaphrodite tube 6.5 mm long, ovary portion 2 mm, calyx lobes 2.3 × 1.9 mm. Anther dehiscence introrse. Ovary with short sparse hairs on summit. Fruits ovoid, fleshy, red 5.0-6.0 × 3.5-4.0 mm; seeds ovoid 3.2 × 2.0 mm, crest thin.

Similar Taxa

Pimelea barbata is allied to P. mimosa from which it differs by its smaller leaf length and wide leaves (7-12 × 3-6 mm in P. barbata cf. 9.0-2.0 × 2.5-5.0 mm in P. mimosa). Pimelea barbata subsp. barbata is closely allied to Pimelea barbata subsp. omoia from which it is geographically isolated (being confined to the Hawkes Bay mountains (with one lowland record from near Gisborne)) and ecologically distinct (being restricted to calcareous (limestone) substrates. Morphologically it differs by its leaf size (7-10 mm long cf. 8-12 mm long). Further study of Pimelea barbata and P. mimosa using DNA sequence data would be useful, as these distinctions seem relatively minor and there is much overlap in the key characters (leaf length and width) used by Burrows (2011) to define them.

Flowering

September - January

Flower Colours

White

Fruiting

November - May

Propagation Technique

Easily propagated from semi-hardwood cuttings and layered pieces. An excellent rockery plant which flourishes in a sunny, well drained rich soil. Intolerant of competition, water logging and humidity.

Threats

Pimelea barbata subsp. omoia was formerly listed as "Taxonomically Indeterminate/Naturally Uncommon in Appendix 2 of de Lange et al. (2009) as Pimelea aff. aridula (c) (CHR 402249; Moawhango) qualified OL (One Location) and St (Stable). Beyond its formal taxonomic recognition, Burrows (2011) offers no concrete data or reasons to suggest a change in this status.

Endemic Taxon

Yes

Endemic Genus

No

Endemic Family

No

This page last updated on 27 Oct 2019