Lepidium obtusatum Kirk (1892 "1891":423)
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Synonym/s: Lepidium loulanicum C.H.An & G.L.Zhou in Fl. Xinjiangensis 2(1): 374 (1995)
Conservation Status
Extinct (Williams & Given, 1981 fide de Lange et al., 2013a; Wilson & Given, 1989 fide Norton, 1991:52; WCMC, 1992:218; de Lange et al., 1999:611, 2004:54, 2009:72, 2013a, 2013b:11, 2018:21; de Lange, 2014; Humphreys et al., 2019; Abeli et al., 2022b; Albani Rocchetti et al., 2022; POWO, 2024; Christenhusz & Govaerts, 2025)
Last record: 1950 (Christenhusz & Govaerts, 2025); 1950 (wild) (de Lange, 2014); 1951 (de Lange, 2005; de Lange et al., 2013)
IUCN RedList status: Extinct
This species has been identified as one of the 50 best candidates for de-extinction, ranking 46/50 (Albani Rocchetti et al., 2022). Indeed, an attempt was made to germinate seeds in 1993 with partial success (de Lange, 2026).
Distribution & Habitat
North Island, New Zealand
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa:
SP030102 (collected 8 March 1892) (de Lange et al., 2013a)
SP030105 (collected 28 February 1937) (de Lange et al., 2013a)
SP030107 (collected 26 November 1920) (de Lange et al., 2013a)
SP030108 (collected January 1914; July 1914 fide de Lange et al., 2013a)
SP030110 (collected 9 December 1891)
SP081922 (collected 1931) (de Lange et al., 2013a)
SP081925 (collected 1931) (de Lange et al., 2013a)
SP081926 (collected 1931) (de Lange et al., 2013a)
Auckland Museum:
AK 4475 (collected July 1914) (de Lange et al., 2013a)
AK 4476 (no collection date) (de Lange et al., 2013a)
AK 250616 (collected 1951) (de Lange et al., 2013a)
Other specimens:
CHR 21596 (collected 3 December 1938) (de Lange et al., 2013a)
CHR 329224 (collected July 1919) (de Lange et al., 2013a)
CHR 464546 (collected 1939) (de Lange et al., 2013a)
WAIK 9680 (collected 1939) (de Lange et al., 2013a)
Media
Above: Lepidium obtusatum Kirk, collected January 1914, Seatoun, New Zealand. Acquisition history unknown. CC BY 4.0. Te Papa (SP030108)
Above: Lepidium obtusatum Kirk, collected Port Nicholson [entrance to], New Zealand. Acquisition history unknown. CC BY 4.0. Te Papa (SP030109)
Above: Lepidium obtusatum Kirk, collected 1931, Seatoun, New Zealand. Acquisition history unknown. CC BY 4.0. Te Papa (SP081926)
Above: Lepidium obtusatum Kirk, collected 9 December 1891, Port Nicholson (entrance to), New Zealand. Acquisition history unknown. CC BY 4.0. Te Papa (SP030110)
References
Original scientific description:
Kirk, T. (1892). Descriptions of new plants from the vicinity of Port Nicholson. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 24: 423-425.
Other references:
Abeli, Thomas, Sharrock, Suzanne and Albani Rocchetti, Giulia. (2022a). Out-of-date datasets hamper conservation of species close to extinction. ResearchSquare preprint. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1250892/v1
Abeli, Thomas, Sharrock, Suzanne and Albani Rocchetti, Giulia. (2022b). Out-of-date datasets hamper conservation of species close to extinction. Nature Plants 8: 1370-1373. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-022-01293-w
Albani Rocchetti, Giulia, Carta, Angelino, Mondoni, Andrea, Godefroid, Sandrine, Davis, Charles C., Caneva, Giulia, Albrecht, Matthew A., Alvarado, Karla, Bijmoer, Roxali, Borosova, Renata, Bräuchler, Christian, Breman, Elinor, Briggs, Marie, Buord, Stephane, Cave, Lynette H., Da Silva, Nílber Gonçalves, Davey, Alexandra H., Davies, Rachael M., Dickie, John B., Fabillo, Melodina, Fleischmann, Andreas, Franks, Andrew, Hall, Geoffrey, Kantvilas, Gintaras, Klak, Cornelia, Liu, Udayangani, Medina, Leopoldo, Reinhammar, Lars Gunnar, Sebola, Ramagwai J., Schönberger, Ines, Sweeney, Patrick, Voglmayr, Hermann, White, Adam, Wieringa, Jan J., Zippel, Elke Zippel and Abeli, Thomas. (2022). Selecting the best candidates for resurrecting extinct-in-the-wild plants from herbaria. Nature Plants 8: 1385-1393. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-022-01296-7 [Supplementary Tables S1-S6]
Allan, H. A. (1961). Flora of New Zealand 1: 1-1085. Botany division, D.S.I.R., Christchurch.
Cameron, E. K., de Lange, P. J., Given, D. R., Johnson, P. N. and Ogle, C. C. (1993). New Zealand Botanical Society threatened and local plant lists (1993 revision)New Zealand Botanical Society threatened and local plant lists (1993 revision). New Zealand Botanical Society Newsletter 32: 14-28.
Christenhusz, Maarten J. M. and Govaerts, Rafaël. (2023). Uitgestorven. Op plantenjacht rond de wereld: 1-511. Sterck & De Vreese.
Christenhusz, Maarten J. M. and Govaerts, Rafaël. (2025). Plant extinction in the Anthropocene. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 207(3): 183-196. https://doi.org/10.1093/botlinnean/boae045 [Appendix S1]
Cockayne, L. (1921). The vegetation of New Zealand. Leipzig: Wilhelm Enelmann.
de Lange, P. J. (2005). A final word from Lepidium obtusatum? Wellington Botanical Society Bulletin 49: 7-8.
de Lange, P. J. (2014). Lepidium obtusatum. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2014: e.T62798292A62798296. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-2.RLTS.T62798292A62798296.en. Accessed on 14 June 2022.
de Lange, P. J. (2026). Lepidium obtusatum Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/lepidium-obtusatum/ [Accessed 12 April 2026]
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de Lange, P. J., Heenan, P. B., Houliston, G. J., Rolfe, J. R. and Mitchell, A. D. (2013a). New Lepidium (Brassicaceae) from New Zealand. PhytoKeys 24: 1-147.
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Humphreys, Aelys M., Govaerts, Rafaël, Ficinski, Sarah Z., Lughadha, Eimear Nic and Vorontsova, Maria S. (2019). Global dataset shows geography and life form predict modern plant extinction and rediscovery. Nature Ecology & Evolution 3: 1043-1047. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-019-0906-2 [Supplementary Dataset 1]
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