Classification
Class
Magnoliopsida Brongn.
Order
Ranunculales Juss. ex Bercht. & J.Presl
Family
Ranunculaceae
Genus
Caltha L.
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Caltha novae-zelandiae Hook.f., Bot. Antarct. Voy. II. (Fl. Nov.-Zel.) Part I, 12, t. 6 (1852)
Synonymy:
  • ≡ Psychrophila novae-zelandiae (Hook.f.) W.A.Weber, Phytologia 51: 375 (1982)
 Description

Glab. perennial up to 18 cm. tall, us. less, with stout rhizome. Lvs radical, clustered; petiole slender, grooved, up to 10 cm. long, expanded to membr. sheathing base. Lamina 8–25 × 4–12 mm., about ovate-oblong to oblong, subcordate at 2-lobed base, slightly sinuate to entire, deeply emarginate at apex. Lobes upturned and ± appressed to lamina, at most to midway. Scape solitary, short, 1-fld, finally up to 14 cm. long. Sepals 5–7, pale yellow, 3-nerved, linear-subulate, attenuate. Stamens 15–20; carpels 6–12, ovate in outline, 4–5 mm. long; style rather stout, c. 2 mm. long. Ripe heads c. 1·5 cm. diam.; seeds 2–5 per follicle.

[From: Allan (1961) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 1.]

 Biostatus
Indigenous (Endemic)
 Phenology

Flowering: Sep.–Nov.; Fruiting: Dec.–Mar.

 Bibliography
de Lange, P.J.; Gosden, J.; Courtney, S.P.; Fergus, A.J.; Barkla, J.W.; Beadel, S.M.; Champion, P.D., Hindmarsh-Walls, R.; Makan, T.; Michel, P. 2024: Conservation status of vascular plants in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2023. New Zealand Threat Classification Series. No. 43. [Not threatened]
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Barkla J.W.; Courtney, S.P.; Champion, P.D.; Perrie, L.R.; Beadel, S.N.; Ford, K.A.; Breitwieser, I.; Schönberger, I.; Hindmarsh-Walls, R.; Heenan, P.B.; Ladley, K. 2018: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017. New Zealand Threat Classification Series. No. 22. [Not Threatened]
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Champion, P.D.; Courtney, S.P.; Heenan, P.B.; Barkla, J.W.; Cameron, E.K.; Norton, D.A.; Hitchmough, R.A. 2013: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2012. New Zealand Threat Classification Series 3. Department of Conservation, Wellington. [Not Threatened]
Hooker, J.D. 1852–1853 ("1853"): 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. II. Flora Novae-Zelandiae. Part I. Flowering plants. Lovell Reeve, London.
Schuettpelz, E.; Hoot, S.B. 2004: Phylogeny and biogeography of Caltha (Ranunculaceae) based on chlroroplast and nuclear DNA sequences. American Journal of Botany 91(2): 247–253.
Webb, C.J.; Edgar, E. 1999: Spelling New Zealand in the specific and infraspecific epithets of vascular plants. New Zealand Journal of Botany 37(1): 71–77.
Weber, W.A. 1982: New names and combinations, principally in the Rocky Mountain flora. 2. Phytologia 51: 369–376.