Brachyglottis huntii (Chatham Island Christmas tree)
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This juvenile Brachyglottis huntii was photographed at Otari Native Botanic Garden and Wilton’s Bush Reserve. Wellington.
The surface of a leaf.
The under surface of a leaf.
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Kingdom:
- Plantae
- Angiosperms
- Eudicots
- Asterids
- Order: Asterales
- Family: Asteraceae
- Tribe: Senecioneae
- Genus: Brachyglottis
- Species: B. huntii
- Binomial name: Brachyglottis huntii
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Synonyms:
- Senecio huntii
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Common names:
- Pitt Island Christmas tree
- Rautini
- Chatham Island Christmas tree,
Relatives
- Brachyglottis 'Leith Gold' (B. repanda x B. greyii)
- Brachyglottis bidwillii (Thick-Leaved Shrub Groundsel)
- Brachyglottis compacta (Castlepoint daisy)
- Brachyglottis elaeagnifolia
- Brachyglottis greyi (Daisy Bush)
- Brachyglottis hectorii (Hectors Tree Daisy)
- Brachyglottis huntii (Chatham Island Christmas tree)
- Brachyglottis laxifolia (Nelson Mountain Groundsel)
- Brachyglottis perdicioides (Raukumara)
- Brachyglottis repanda (Rangiora)
- Brachyglottis rotundifolia (Muttonbird scrub)
- Brachyglottis rotundifolia var. ambigua (Muttonbird scrub)
- Helichrysum dimorphum (Climbing everlasting daisy)
- Helichrysum lanceolatum (Niniao)
- Olearia albida (Tanguru)
- Olearia allomii (Great Barrier Tree Daisy)
- Olearia angulata
- Olearia arborescens (Common tree daisy)
- Olearia chathamica (Keketerehe)
- Olearia cheesemanii (Streamside tree daisy)
- Olearia cymbifolia (Hard Leaved Tree Daisy)
- Olearia furfuracea (Akepiro)
- Olearia ilicifolia (Mountain holly)
- Olearia lacunosa (Lancewood Tree Daisy)
- Olearia locheliia
- Olearia nummulariifolia (Tree daisy)
- Olearia pachyphylla (Thick-leaved tree daisy)
- Olearia rani (Heketara)
- Olearia solandri (Coastal shrub daisy)
- Olearia traversiorum (Chatham Island Akeake)
- Olearia virgata (Twiggy tree daisy)
- Olearia x macrodonta (NZ Holly)
- Ozothamnus leptophyllus (Mountain Cottonwood)
- Ozothamnus leptophyllus (Tauhinu)
- Pachystegia insignis (Marlborough rock daisy)
- Pachystegia minor (Marlborough rock daisy)
- Pachystegia rufa (Marlborough rock daisy)
- Pachystegia rufa X insignis (Marlborough rock daisy) hybrid
Brachyglottis huntii is a large tree daisy that grows up to 8 m tall. Is it grows well on moist, peaty soils. It is found on stream sides and ridge crests in forests, shrubland and drier swamps on the Chatham Islands.
It is numbers are now restricted on Chatham Island itself, but is still widespread on Pitt Island. Its conservation status is ‘nationally critical’, due to habitat destruction, which includes browsing and trampling by cattle, sheep, pigs and possums. The bark is flaky and the leaves are 70-180 mm long and 20-40 mm wide. They densely clad in downy hairs, giving the whole plant a silvery hue. It produces brilliant yellow globes of florets in summer, these set as dense masses of wind-dispersed seed.