Marsippospermum gracile

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Marsippospermum gracile
The botany of the Antarctic voyage of H.M. discovery ships Erebus and Terror in the Years 1839-1843 (6302419941).jpg
Plate XLVII (artist Fitch) [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Juncaceae
Genus: Marsippospermum
Species:
M. gracile
Binomial name
Marsippospermum gracile
Synonyms [2]

Juncus gracilis(Hook.f.) Walp.
Juncus hookeridis Steud.
Rostkovia gracilis Hook.f.
Rostkovia novae-zelandiae Buchanan

Contents

Marsippospermum gracile, common name alpine rush, [4] is a flowering plant species in the rush family Juncaceae which is native to New Zealand. [2]

Description

It is a densely tufted, rhizomatomous plant, whose rhizomes are about 5 mm in diameter and horizontal in plants on the South Island ascending in plants from Auckland and Campbell Is. The stems are 8-40 cm by 0.5 mm., and crowded on the rhizome with reddish brown bracts at their base, the upper conspicuously mucronate. The leaves can be roughly equal in length or much greater in length than the flowering stems. They are slightly less than 1 mm. wide, are terete, rigid, striated, bright green, and shining. The flowers are 1.5–3 cm. long, with an inconspicuous bract. There are six unequal tepals, which are pale brown with membraneous margins. There are six stamens. The leathery capsules are about half the length of tepals, and chestnut-brown. The seeds are about 2.5 mm. long, straw-coloured, and shining. [5]

It flowers from December to February and fruits from January to March. [5]

Taxonomy

It was first described in 1844 by Joseph Hooker as Rostkovia gracilis, [2] [1] but was assigned to the genus, Marsippospermum in 1879 by the German botanist, Franz Georg Philipp Buchenau, to become Marsippospermum gracile. [2] [3] The specific epithet, gracilis/gracile, comes from the Latin, gracilis, meaning "slender, thin, graceful". [6]

Conservation status

In both 2009 and 2012 it was deemed to be "Not Threatened" under the New Zealand Threat Classification System, [4] and this classification was reaffirmed in 2018. [7]

Related Research Articles

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<i>Myosotis capitata</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Isolepis aucklandica</i> Species of grass-like plant

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<i>Myosotis lyallii</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Myosotis antarctica <span style="font-style:normal;">subsp.</span> antarctica</i> Subspecies of flowering plant

Myosotis antarcticasubsp. antarctica is a subspecies of flowering plant in the family Boraginaceae, native to New Zealand, Campbell Island, and southern Chile. Joseph Dalton Hooker described the species in his 19th century work Flora Antarctica. Plants of this subspecies of forget-me-not are perennial with a prostrate habit, bracteate inflorescences, and white or blue corollas. It is one of two native Myosotis in the New Zealand subantarctic islands, the other being M. capitata, which also has blue corollas.

References

  1. 1 2 Hooker, J.D. (1844). "Marsippospermum gracile". The botany of the Antarctic voyage of H.M. discovery ships Erebus and Terror in the Years 1839-1843 :under the command of Captain Sir James Clark Ross. 1 (5): 83. Plate XLVII
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Marsippospermum gracile (Hook.f.) Buchenau | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  3. 1 2 Buchenau, F.G.P. (1879) Abhandlungen herausgegeben vom Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins zu Bremen. 6: 374
  4. 1 2 "Marsippospermum gracile | New Zealand Plant Conservation Network". nzpcn.org.nz. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  5. 1 2 "Flora of New Zealand | Taxon Profile | Marsippospermum gracile". www.nzflora.info. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  6. "gracilis,-is,-e". www.plantillustrations.org. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  7. Lange, Peter J. de; Rolfe, Jeremy R.; Barkla, John W.; Courtney, Shannel P.; Champion, Paul D.; Perrie, Leon R.; Beadel, Sarah M.; Ford, Kerry A.; Breitwieser, Ilse; Schönberger, Ines; Hindmarsh-Walls, Rowan (2018). "Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017" (PDF). New Zealand Threat Classification Series. 22: 70. OCLC   1041649797.