Threat category:
Threatened: Nationally Critical?Regions:
Bay of PlentyDistribution:
Bay of Plenty
Key Features
- A large, spreading shrub to 3 m tall with flaking, greyish brown bark and stout branches.
- Leaves are large (5-14 x 3-9 cm), leathery and broadly oval but strongly curved. They have a pale green upper surface and a soft white felt on the underside.
- Numerous small, white flower heads occur in open clusters toward the branch tips. Each flower head has a tubular base covered in small scales coated in long, silky hairs.
- Two related shrubs (Olearia townsonii and O. furfuracea) grow taller (to 5 m) than O. pachyphylla, but are best distinguished by the lack of hairs on the scales beneath flower heads.
Distribution and Habitat
- Eastern Bay of Plenty at Opape. Previously known from Coromandel Peninsula and from Torere (eastern Bay of Plenty). Occurs on steep cliffs and stream banks amongst scrub.
Threats
- Coastal development.
- Competition with exotic plants.
- Browsing by goats.
Management Opportunities
- Survey for new locations.
- Mark known sites.
- Protection of habitat.
- Weed control.
- Avoid afforestation of known sites.
- Propagation of plants for re-establishment at appropriate sites.
Monitoring Options
- Check existing populations annually.
- Report new locations to DOC, NZPCN.
Further Information and Support
- New Zealand Plant Conservation Network (NZPCN). http://www.nzpcn.org.nz
- References
- Dopson, S.R.; de Lange, P.J.; Ogle, C.C.; Rance, B.D.; Courtney, S. & Molloy, J. (1999). The conservation requirements of New Zealand’s nationally threatened vascular plants. Threatened Species Occasional Publication 13. Department of Conservation, Wellington.
- Peter de Lange, Peter Heenan, David Norton, Jeremy Rolfe and John Sawyer (2010). Threatened Plants of New Zealand. Canterbury University Press, Christchurch. 472 pp.