Aciphylla aurea
Aciphylla aurea, known as taramea in Māori and golden speargrass or golden Spaniard in New Zealand English, is a large, spiky, tufted plant with sharp yellowish-green leaves in the speargrass genus Aciphylla. A. aurea is found throughout the South Island of New Zealand in montane to low alpine habitats.
Taxonomy and etymology
This species was first described in 1956 by the New Zealand botanist Walter Oliver. The type locality of this species is Swampy Hill in Otago and the several syntype specimens, collected by Oliver on 25 November 1950, are held at Te Papa. The species epithet aurea refers to the distinctive golden colour of the plant.Description
Plants are yellow-green, tufted herbs up to 1.5 m high with spiky rosettes up to 1 m diameter, and dioecious. Leaves are up to 70 cm long, once- or twice-pinnately compound, petiolate, with thick, wide sheaths and stiff, sharp, tapering stipules up to 27 cm long. Petioles are up to 20 cm long and 16 mm wide and serrulate. Pinnae in 1–2 pairs, about 20 cm long, erect, serrulate. Stems are thick, ribbed, bracted, and tapering, up to 80 cm long with acicular stipules up to 8 cm long. Flowers are cream to yellow in colour, and grouped into compound inflorescences called umbels that have linear bracts. In male plants, the umbels are found along the length of the peduncles, which are longer than the umbel rays. In female plants, the umbels are on peduncles up to 15 cm long and are made up of umbellules on short rays. Seeds usually dark brown, 5–7 mm long.Flowering from November–December. Flowering is irregular and infrequent.
Fruiting from January–February. Seeds are wind-dispersed.
Populations of A. aurea in the northern South Island show some characteristics that are different from the rest of the population, including golden brown seeds.
Distribution and habitat
A. aurea is endemic to the South Island of New Zealand, from Nelson and Marlborough near Mount Stokes to northern Southland near Te Anau, mostly on the eastern side of the Southern Alps. It prefers montane to low alpine dry, rocky sites including grassland from 300–1,500 m above sea level. A. aurea can be common in the drier mountains of Marlborough.A. aurea has a high tolerance for extreme weather conditions, tolerating fires and temperatures of -17 degrees Celsius. A. aurea is found in drier climates compared to some of its relatives, which might be due to plant size and tolerance.