''Myosotis matthewsii'' is a species of
flowering plant in the
family Boraginaceae,
endemic to the
North Island
The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...
of
New Zealand.
Lucy Moore described the species in 1961. Plants of this species of
forget-me-not are
perennial rosettes with bracteate inflorescences and white corollas.
Taxonomy and etymology
''Myosotis matthewsii'' is in the plant family
Boraginaceae and was originally described in 1961 by
Lucy Moore.
''Myosotis matthewsii'' is morphologically most similar to ''
M. spatulata,
M. chaffeyorum'', ''M. tenericaulis and
M. albiflora.''
The type specimen of ''Myosotis matthewsii'' is lodged at the
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...
, Wellington (herbarium WELT).
The specific epithet, ''matthewsii'', is named after Richard Henry Matthews (1835–1912), a Kaitaia resident who made the first collections.
Phylogeny
''Myosotis matthewsii'' was shown to be a part of the
monophyletic
In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...
southern hemisphere lineage of ''Myosotis'' in
phylogenetic analyses of standard DNA sequencing markers (
nuclear ribosomal DNA
Nuclear may refer to:
Physics
Relating to the Atomic nucleus, nucleus of the atom:
*Nuclear engineering
*Nuclear physics
*Nuclear power
*Nuclear reactor
*Nuclear weapon
*Nuclear medicine
*Radiation therapy
*Nuclear warfare
Mathematics
*Nuclear ...
and
chloroplast DNA regions).
Within the southern hemisphere lineage, species relationships were not well resolved.
Description
''Myosotis matthewsii'' plants are rosettes. The rosette leaves have
petioles 7–62 mm long. The rosette leaf blades are 6–22 mm long by 5–20 mm wide (length: width ratio 1.1–1.3: 1), broadly to very broadly obovate, widest at or above the middle, with an
obtuse apex. Both surfaces of the leaf are sparsely to densely covered in straight, appressed (also some patent on upper surface only), antrorse (forward-facing) hairs that are oriented at an angle (upper surface) or parallel (lower surface) relative to the mid vein. Each rosette has 3–6 sprawling, creeping, subascending, unbranched to thrice-branched bracteate
inflorescences that are 176–420 mm long. The cauline leaves are very similar to the rosette leaves, but become smaller, can be elliptic to ovate, and may have some curved hairs. The flowers are 8–43 per inflorescence and each is borne on a short
pedicel
Pedicle or pedicel may refer to:
Human anatomy
*Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures
...
with a bract. The calyx is 2–3 mm long at flowering and 3–4 mm long at fruiting, lobed to about three-quarters of its length, and densely covered in short, straight to curved (sometimes hooked near the calyx base), appressed to patent, antrorse hairs. The corolla is white and 4–8 mm in diameter, with a cylindrical tube, petals that are broadly obovate to ovate and flat, and small yellow scales alternating with the petals. The anthers are fully exserted. The four smooth, shiny, light to dark brown nutlets are 1.4–1.8 mm long by 1.0–1.4 mm wide and ovoid to broadly ovoid in shape.
''Myosotis matthewsii'' has ''M. uniflora'' type pollen.
The chromosome number of ''M. matthewsii'' is unknown.
''Myosotis matthewsii'' flowers October–January, and fruits until March.
Distribution and habitat
''Myosotis matthewsii'' is endemic to the North Island of New Zealand in the Warawara Forest in Northland, from 65 to 300 m ASL. ''M. matthewsii'' is found on the forest floor in damp, shady, rocky sites of low broadleaf secondary forest''.''
Conservation status
The species is listed as Threatened - Nationally Critical in the most recent assessment (2017-2018) of the
New Zealand Threatened Classification for plants. It also has the qualifiers "DP" (Data Poor), "EF" (Extreme Fluctuations), and "OL" (One Location).
References
External links
''Myosotis matthewsii'' occurrence data from Australasian Virtual Herbarium*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q17416959
matthewsii
Endemic flora of New Zealand
Endangered flora of New Zealand
Plants described in 1961