Classification
Class
Magnoliopsida Brongn.
Order
Ericales Bercht. & J.Presl
Family
Ericaceae
Genus
Gaultheria Kalm ex L.
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Gaultheria macrostigma (Colenso) D.J.Middleton, Edinburgh J. Bot. 47: 297 (1990)
Synonymy:
  • ≡ Pernettya macrostigma Colenso, Trans. & Proc. New Zealand Inst. 21: 92 (1888 [1889])
  • = Gaultheria antipoda var. microphylla Hook.f., Bot. Antarct. Voy. II. (Fl. Nov.-Zel.) Part I, 161 (1853)
  • ≡ Gaultheria depressa var. microphylla (Hook.f.) Cheeseman, Man. New Zealand Fl., ed. 2, 690 (1925)
Vernacular Name(s):
Prostrate snowberry
 Description

Small low shrub; stems usually prostrate and matted, sometimes rooting, but sometimes forming a bush to 1 m tall; branches flexuous and often much interlaced. Branchlets moderately hairy and with some long, weak bristles. Lvs rather distant, alternate, 6–12 × 1–1.5 mm, linear, often rolled and strongly recurved, thick, glabrous; veins usually rather indistinct; margins with up to 6 indistinct teeth on either side; teeth usually in opposite pairs and sometimes bristle-pointed. Fls solitary and axillary. Pedicels to 2–(4) mm long, glabrous, with 4, 6 or more decussate bracts at the base. Bracts ovate, with densely ciliate margins. Calyx lobes ciliate. Corolla glabrous or sparsely hairy inside. Stamens < style; filaments 1.0–1.2 mm long, dilated near base, densely papillose. Anthers c. 0.8 mm long, with awns to 0.4 mm long. Fr. a globose berry, c. 5 mm diam., pale to deep pink.

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

 Biostatus
Indigenous (Endemic)
 Bibliography
Cheeseman, T.F. 1925: Manual of the New Zealand Flora. Edition 2. Government Printer, Wellington.
Colenso, W. 1889: A description of some newly-discovered Phænogamic plants; being a further contribution towards the making known the botany of New Zealand. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 21: 80–108.
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.
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.
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.