{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}} {{Speciesbox |image = Pimelea actea Tapuarau.jpg |status = NC |status_system = NZTCS |status_ref = <ref name="TCS">{{Cite journal|last1=de Lange|first1=Peter J.|last2=Norton|first2=D. A.|last3=Heenan|first3=Peter J.|last4=Courtney|first4=S. P.|last5=Molloy|first5=B. P. J.|last6=Ogle|first6=C. C.|last7=Rance|first7=B. D.|last8=Johnson|first8=P. N.|last9=Hitchmough|first9=Rod|year=2004|title=Threatened and uncommon plants of New Zealand|journal=New Zealand Journal of Botany|volume=42|pages=45–76|doi=10.1080/0028825x.2004.9512890|doi-access=free|hdl=10092/415|hdl-access=free}}</ref> |genus = Pimelea |species = actea |authority = C.J. Burrows 2008 |synonyms = ''Pimelea'' "Turakina" }}
'''''Pimelea actea''''' is a small coastal plant native to New Zealand.<ref name=nzflora>{{cite web|title=Pimelea actea C.J.Burrows (2008)|url=https://biotanz.landcareresearch.co.nz/scientific-names/2140496b-d2f8-4303-92d2-8e8b0d2f9277|publisher=Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research|access-date=6 June 2022}}</ref> It was named and described by Colin J. Burrows in 2008 as part of a revision of the New Zealand ''Pimelea'', a project he had begun as a Master's thesis in the 1950s and continued in his retirement.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nzpcn.org.nz/news_detail.aspx?ID=192|title=New Pimelea Recognised in Revision|last=|first=|date=|website=New Zealand Plant Conservation Network|publisher=|access-date=15 October 2016}}</ref> Burrows described the species, which for some time had been referred to as ''Pimelea'' "Turakina", from a specimen collected in 1968, now in the Auckland Museum.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/collections-research/collections/record/am_naturalsciences-object-346887|title=Pimelea actea|publisher=Auckland War Memorial Museum|access-date=15 October 2016}}</ref> Its species name, ''actea'', means "coastal".<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Burrows|first=Colin J.|year=2008|title=Genus Pimelea (Thymelaeaceae) in New Zealand 1. The taxonomic treatment of seven endemic, glabrous-leaved species|journal=New Zealand Journal of Botany|volume=45|issue=2|pages=127–176|doi=10.1080/00288250809509760|doi-access=}}</ref> [[File:Pimelea actea at Otari.jpg|left|thumb|''Pimelea actea'' in cultivation at Otari-Wilton's Bush, Wellington]] ''P. actea'' was formerly widespread along the western North Island coastline, with specimens recorded from Foxton Beach and the mouth of the Turakina River,<ref name=":0" /> but is now restricted in the wild to only two localities: a single coastal paddock at Himatangi, and dunes at Tapuarau Reserve, Waitotara, near Whanganui.<ref name="nzpcn">{{cite web|url=http://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora_details.aspx?ID=2373|title=''Pimelea actea''|last=|first=|date=|website=|publisher=New Zealand Plant Conservation Network|access-date=15 October 2016}}</ref> In Whanganui, the last remaining plant was being cultivated in potter Rick Rudd's Castlecliff garden;<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Cave|first=Vonnie|author-link=Vonnie Cave|year=2008|title=Saturday 1 July 2006: Rick Rudd's coastal garden, Castlecliff|url=http://www.nzbotanicalsociety.org.nz/newsletter/nzbotsoc-2008-94.pdf|journal=New Zealand Botanical Society Newsletter|volume=94|pages=3–4}}</ref> it has since been removed, propagated, and replanted at Tapuarau Reserve. Its natural habitat is dune slacks, temporary wetlands formed between sand dunes that are in danger of invasion by introduced grasses.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/publications/factsheets/rare-ecosystems/wetlands/dune-slacks|title=Dune Slacks|last=Buxton|first=Rowan|date=|website=Landcare Research Manaaki Whenua|publisher=|access-date=15 October 2016}}</ref> Since 2004 ''P. actea'' has been classed as Nationally Critical by the Department of Conservation,<ref name="TCS" /> and is one of New Zealand's most threatened plant species.
==References== {{Reflist}}
== External links == * ''Pimelea actea'' discussed on RNZ ''Critter of the Week'', [http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/201819126/critter-of-the-week-pimelea-actea 7 October 2016]
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actea Category:Flora of New Zealand
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