''Marsippospermum gracile,'' common name - alpine rush'',''
is a
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 ...
species in the rush family
Juncaceae
Juncaceae is a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the rush family. It consists of 8 genera and about 464 known species of slow-growing, rhizomatous, herbaceous monocotyledonous plants that may superficially resemble grasses and s ...
which is native to
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 ...
.
[
]
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.
Taxonomy
It was first described in 1844 by Joseph Hooker
Joseph Hooker (November 13, 1814 – October 31, 1879) was an American Civil War general for the Union, chiefly remembered for his decisive defeat by Confederate General Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863.
Hooker had serv ...
as ''Rostkovia gracilis'',[ but was assigned to the genus, '']Marsippospermum
''Marsippospermum'' is a genus of plant in family Juncaceae described as a genus in 1809.
The genus is native to New Zealand, southern South America, and Falkland Islands.Kirschner, J. & al. (2002). Juncaceae. Species Plantarum: Flora of the Wor ...
'' in 1879 by the German botanist, Franz Georg Philipp Buchenau
Franz Georg Philipp Buchenau (12 January 1831 – 23 April 1906) was a German botanist and phytogeography, phytogeographer who was a native of Kassel. He specialized in flora of northwestern Germany.
He studied at the Universities of University of ...
, to become ''Marsippospermum gracile''.[ The specific epithet, ''gracilis/gracile'', comes from the Latin, ''gracilis'', meaning "slender, thin, graceful".]
Conservation status
In both 2009 and 2012 it was deemed to be "Not Threatened" under the New Zealand Threat Classification System,
References
External links
''Marsippospermum gracile'' images and occurrence data
from GBIF
The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) is an international organisation that focuses on making scientific data on biodiversity available via the Internet using web services. The data are provided by many institutions from around the ...
''Marsippospermum gracile'' occurrence data
from AVH
gracile
Plants described in 1844
Taxa named by Franz Georg Philipp Buchenau
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