Marsippospermum gracile

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

Marsippospermum gracile
Plate XLVII (artist Fitch)[1]
Scientific classification
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

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. margin. 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]

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References
  1. 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. "Marsippospermum gracile (Hook.f.) Buchenau | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  3. Buchenau, F.G.P. (1879) Abhandlungen herausgegeben vom Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins zu Bremen. 6: 374
  4. "Marsippospermum gracile | New Zealand Plant Conservation Network". nzpcn.org.nz. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  5. "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.


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