Classification
Class
Magnoliopsida Brongn.
Order
Ericales Bercht. & J.Presl
Family
Ericaceae
Genus
Gaultheria Kalm ex L.
 Subordinate Taxa
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Gaultheria rupestris (L.f.) D.Don (1834)
Synonymy:
  • ≡ Andromeda rupestris L.f. (1781)
  • ≡ Brossaea rupestris (L.f.) Kuntze (1891)
  • = Gaultheria rupestris var. lanceolata Cheeseman, Man. New Zealand Fl. 407 (1906)
 Description

Shrub to c. 1 m high; branchlets with sparse to rather dense setose hairs. Lvs alternate; petioles stout, to c. 3 mm long. Lamina (6)–20–45–(57) × (3)–6–20–(25) mm, elliptic, elliptic-oblong, or lanceolate-oblong (several forms on 1 plant; young plants often with larger lvs), ± coriaceous but not thick; margins finely or sometimes rather coarsely serrate; base usually cuneate, sometimes almost rounded; apex acute. Fls in terminal and subterminal racemes or panicles to c. 8 cm long; axis ± hairy; pedicels 3–5 mm long, usually puberulent, sometimes glabrous; bracteoles c. 2 mm long, broad-ovate. Calyx lobes c. 2 mm long, ovate-triangular, usually acute or apiculate, sometimes obtuse. Corolla urceolate; tube c. 3 mm long; lobes broadly ovate, c. 1 mm long. Capsule c. 3–4 mm diam., invested by dry calyx.

[From: Webb et al. (1988) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 4.]

 Biostatus
Indigenous (Endemic)
Number of subspecific taxa in New Zealand within Gaultheria rupestris (L.f.) D.Don
CategoryNumber
Indigenous (Endemic)2
Total2
 Phenology

Flowering: Nov.–Feb.

 Bibliography
Cheeseman, T.F. 1906: Manual of the New Zealand Flora. Government Printer, Wellington.
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.