Bulbinella rossii, commonly known as the Ross Lily, is a species of flowering plant

Flowering plant

The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...

 in genus Bulbinella

Bulbinella

Bulbinella is a genus of plant in the family Xanthorrhoeaceae, subfamily Asphodeloideae. Most species are endemic to South Africa, confined to the winter rainfall area with a few in New Zealand where they are most common in the central Otago region which enjoys a similar climate to the Cape Region...

. It is one of the subantarctic megaherb

Megaherb

Megaherbs are a group of herbaceous perennial wildflowers growing in the New Zealand sub-antarctic islands. They are characterised by their great size, with huge leaves and very large and often unusually-coloured flowers, which have evolved as an adaptation to the harsh weather conditions on the...

s. The specific epithet honours British Antarctic explorer James Clark Ross

James Clark Ross

Sir James Clark Ross , was a British naval officer and explorer. He explored the Arctic with his uncle Sir John Ross and Sir William Parry, and later led his own expedition to Antarctica.-Arctic explorer:...

, who visited Campbell Island in December 1840.

Description

Bulbinella rossii is a large, dioecious

Dioecious

Dioecy is the property of a group of biological organisms that have males and females, but not members that have organs of both sexes at the same time. I.e., those whose individual members can usually produce only one type of gamete; each individual organism is thus distinctly female or male...

, perennial lily, growing up to 1 m in height and with a basal diameter of 40 mm. The dark green, fleshy, strap-like leaves

Leaf

A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....

 are 0.6–1 m long and 15–60 mm wide. The inflorescence

Inflorescence

An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...

 is a cylindrical raceme

Raceme

A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called pedicels — along the axis. In botany, axis means a shoot, in this case one bearing the flowers. In a raceme, the oldest flowers are borne...

 up to 600 mm long. The golden yellow flower

Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...

s are densely crowded, 10–14 mm in diameter, and are often flushed with orange. The ovoid seed capsule is 10 mm long, containing narrowly winged, dark brown seeds. The plant flowers from October to January and fruits from December to March.

Distribution and habitat

The lily is endemic to New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

’s subantarctic

Subantarctic

The Subantarctic is a region in the southern hemisphere, located immediately north of the Antarctic region. This translates roughly to a latitude of between 46° – 60° south of the Equator. The subantarctic region includes many islands in the southern parts of the Indian Ocean, Atlantic Ocean and...

 Auckland

Auckland Islands

The Auckland Islands are an archipelago of the New Zealand Sub-Antarctic Islands and include Auckland Island, Adams Island, Enderby Island, Disappointment Island, Ewing Island, Rose Island, Dundas Island and Green Island, with a combined area of...

 and Campbell Islands

Campbell Island, New Zealand

Campbell Island is a remote, subantarctic island of New Zealand and the main island of the Campbell Island group. It covers of the group's , and is surrounded by numerous stacks, rocks and islets like Dent Island, Folly Island , Isle de Jeanette Marie, and Jacquemart Island, the latter being the...

. There it is common and widespread from sea level to the tops of the island mountains. Because it thrives where the ground has been disturbed, and because it is not particularly palatable to browsing

Browsing (predation)

Browsing is a type of herbivory in which an herbivore feeds on leaves, soft shoots, or fruits of high growing, generally woody, plants such as shrubs. This is contrasted with grazing, usually associated with animals feeding on grass or other low vegetation...

 animals, it is common near old human habitation sites and may form dense colonies in open herbfield

Herbfield

Herbfields are plant communities dominated by herbaceous plants, especially forbs and grasses. They are found where climatic conditions do not allow large woody plants to grow, such as in subantarctic and alpine tundra environments...

 and tussock grassland

Tussock grassland

Tussock grassland is a form of open grassland common in many temperate southern hemisphere regions, notably in New Zealand, but also in Australia, Argentina, some subantarctic islands, and parts of southern and eastern Africa....

.