Dracophyllum Muscoides

''Dracophyllum muscoides,'' commonly known as cushion inaka, is a small cushion plant in the family ''Ericaceae''. It is endemic to New Zealand and is found only in the South Island in sub-alpine regions.

Description

''D. muscoides'' grows into a small cushion just 15 - 50 mm tall, despite its upright branch growth, with many-branched stems and greyish-brown bark; though new growth is a reddish-brown colour. Its leaves grow in a spiral around branches; overlapping and pressing against each other. The olive green leaves are 1 - 3 by 0.3 - 0.8 mm and are contained within 1.5 - 3 by 1.5 - 3 light green sheathes. On the front third of the narrow leaves are tiny teeth, with 5 - 10 per cm. Flowering occurs from December to May, producing small white flowers, each on a sessile terminal inflorescence. The flowers are made up of oval-shaped 1.5 – 4 .5 by 1.5 – 2.0 mm sepals growing out of a 2.0 - 2.5 by 1.5 – 3.5 mm white bell-shaped corolla tube. The corolla tube has 1.0 – 1.5 by 1.0 – 1.5 mm glabrous lobes. In the upper third of the flower is the stamen, which is made up of 0.8 – 1.0 mm long light yellow anthers on top of 0.2 – 0.5 mm long filaments. It also has a 1.4 – 1.5 by 1.3 – 1.4 mm ovary and 0.5 – 0.9 by 0.5 – 0.7 mm nectary scales. Fruiting is from February to August, yielding 1.0 – 1.1 by 0.8 – 1.0 mm fruit inside which are 0.5 – 0.6 mm long yellowish-brown oval seeds which are dispersed by the wind.
File:Dracophyllum muscoides flowers.jpg, Flowers
File:Dracophyllum muscoides growth habit 2.jpg, The growth habit
File:Dracophyllum muscoides leaves.jpg, The "spiraled" leaves

Taxonomy

''D. muscoides'' was first described in 1864 by Joseph Dalton Hooker in his ''Handbook of the New Zealand Flora'' from a specimen collected by Hector and Buchanan 7 - 8000 ft up in the alps near Otago.

Etymology

''Dracophyllum'' is from the genus's similarity to the species in the genus ''Dracaena'' from the Canary Islands and is from the Ancient Greek for "dragon-leaf." The specific epithet ''muscoides'' means "moss-like" and is from the Latin ''muscus,'' meaning "moss", and ''-oides,'' meaning "resembling."

Phylogeny

He claimed that it was closely allied to ''D. minimum,'' however W. R. B. Oliver, the first person to attempt to arrange the genus ''Dracophyllum'' taxonomically, didn't totally agree. In a 1952 supplement of the ''Trans. Proc. R. Soc. N. Z.,'' he placed ''D. muscoides'' in a group with ''D. prostratum'' and ''D. pronum,'' leaving ''D. minimum'' to its own group, in the subgenus ''Oreothamnus''. Oliver, however, conducted his research based purely on morphological characteristics such as growth habit, leaves, and flowers. In 2010 a team of several botanists, including Stephanus Venter, published an article on the genus ''Dracophyllum'' in the Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. In it they performed a cladistic analysis and produced a phylogenetic tree of the tribe '' Richeeae'' and other species using genetic sequencing. They found that only the subgenus ''Oreothamnus'' as well as the tribe '' Richeeae'' were monophyletic and that ''D. muscoides'' is contained within a Paraphyletic group with ''D. pronum'' and others. The paraphylly of the genus ''Dracophyllum,'' as well as the polyphyly of the closely related genus ''Richea,'' they argued, suggested that a major taxonomic revision was required. Stephanus Venter revised the genus in 2021, merging the genus ''Richea'' into two subgenera, named ''D. Subg. Cystanthe'' and ''D. Subg.'' ''Dracophylloides'', of ''Dracophyllum.'' Though he noted that because the 2010 study was based on plastid sequence data and did not attain some species with strong enough evidence, the subgenera are instead based on morphological characteristics.''''

''D. muscoides placement can be summarised in the cladogram at right.

Distribution and habitat

''D. muscoides'' is endemic to New Zealand and is found only in the South Island of New Zealand from Mount Hercules south. It grows in sub-alpine herb-fields, boulder-fields, grassland, and alpine bog from 914 – 2600 m above sea level.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15377378

muscoides
Endemic flora of New Zealand