Classification
Class
Magnoliopsida Brongn.
Order
Ericales Bercht. & J.Presl
Family
Ericaceae
Genus
Gaultheria Kalm ex L.
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Gaultheria nubicola D.J.Middleton in Middleton & Wilcock, Edinburgh J. Bot. 47: 298 (1990)
Synonymy:
  • = Pernettya alpina Franklin, Trans. Roy. Soc. New Zealand, Bot. 1: 164 (1962)
 Description

Small, creeping, densely matted, much-branched shrublet. Branchlets erect, leafy, c. 3–(5) cm long, densely and very minutely puberulous. Lvs fairly close, alternate, 3–7 × 2–4 mm, suborbicular, elliptic or elliptic-oblong, very thick and coriaceous, almost entire, glabrous; veins conspicuous. Fls axillary, solitary. Pedicels < 1 mm long, minutely puberulous, with 2–4 bracts at base. Bracts broadly ovate, glabrous or almost so. Calyx lobes glabrous. Corolla sparingly hairy inside. Stamens = style; filaments c. 2 mm long, ribbon-like, gradually expanding towards base, not papillose. Anthers 0.5–0.6 mm long, awnless. Fr. a berry, c. 5 mm long, globose, remaining ± green.

[From: Webb et al. (1985) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 4 as Pernettya alpina Franklin]

 Biostatus
Indigenous (Endemic)
 Bibliography
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]
Franklin, D.A. 1962: The Ericaceae in New Zealand (Gaultheria and Pernettya). Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand. Botany 1: 155–173.
Middleton, D.J.; Wilcock, C.C. 1990: A critical examination of the status of Pernettya as a genus distinct from Gaultheria. Edinburgh Journal of Botany 47(3): 291–301.