''Damnamenia'' is a genus of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s in the family

Asteraceae The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...

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/ref> The only known species is ''Damnamenia vernicosa'', called the black-eyed daisy. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

(Auckland and Campbell Islands).

Description

''Damnamenia vernicosa'' is a small,

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

stolon In biology, stolons (from Latin '' stolō'', genitive ''stolōnis'' – "branch"), also known as runners, are horizontal connections between organisms. They may be part of the organism, or of its skeleton; typically, animal stolons are external s ...

iferous

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

. It has glossy green

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

and white daisy

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s with dark purple centres. The plant flowers from November to January and fruits from December to March.

Distribution and habitat

The plant is

's subantarctic

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

and Campbell Islands. Its preferred habitats are upland cushion

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...

s and ''

Pleurophyllum ''Pleurophyllum'' is a genus of subantarctic plants in the tribe Astereae within the family Asteraceae.Hooker, Joseph Dalton. 1844. Botany of the Antarctic Voyage ...Volume 1. Flora Antarctica page 30. ''Pleurophyllum'' is native to the suban ...

''-dominated

herbfield Herbfields are plant communities dominated by herbaceous plants, especially forbs and grasses. They are found where climatic conditions do not allow large woody plants to grow, such as in subantarctic and alpine tundra environments. Herbfield is ...

s. It also grows at lower elevations in exposed and sparsely vegetated sites.

Taxonomy & naming

It was first described in 1844 as ''Celmisia vernicosa'' by Joseph Hooker. In 2012, David Given separated ''C. vernicosa'' from ''

Celmisia ''Celmisia'' (New Zealand aster or New Zealand daisy) is a genus of perennial herbs or subshrubs, in the family Asteraceae. Most of the species are endemic to New Zealand; several others are endemic to Australia. ; Species and nothospecies #RED ...

'' and from related genera on the basis of its morphology, and allocated it to the new genus, ''Damnamenia''. Given named the genus ''Damnamenia'' for the

Dactyl Dactyl may refer to: * Dactyl (mythology), a legendary being * Dactyl (poetry), a metrical unit of verse * Dactyl Foundation, an arts organization * Finger, a part of the hand * Dactylus, part of a decapod crustacean * "-dactyl", a suffix used ...

, Damnamenius, since ''Celmisia'' was named for Celmis, another Dactyl. The specific epithet, ''vernicosa'', is the Latin adjective, ''vernicosus,-a, -um'', meaning "varnished", and refers to the apparently varnished leaves.

Conservation status

The species is listed as "At Risk – Naturally Uncommon" on the most recent (2018) New Zealand Threatened Classification for plants, because of its restricted range).

Gallery

Flora Antarctica Plate XXVI.XXVII.jpg, ''Damnamenia vernicosa'' as ''Celmisia vernicosa'' (Plates XXVI-XXVII Fitch)Hooker, J.D. (1852)
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: Plates XXVI-XXVII
/ref> Damnamenia vernicosa 359964091.jpg, ''Damnamenia vernicosa'' growing among other flora on Campbell Island Damnamenia vernicosa 359964316.jpg, ''Damnamenia vernicosa'' growing on a cliff face on Campbell Island Damnamenia vernicosa 320403240.jpg, Close-up of a ''Damnamenia vernicosa'' flower

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5212731, from2=Q5212726 Astereae Monotypic Asteraceae genera Endemic flora of New Zealand Flora of the Auckland Islands Flora of the Campbell Islands Plants described in 1844