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Werneria pygmaea; photograph Dick Culbert from Gibsons, B.C., Canada, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons CC BYDick Culbert from Gibsons, B.C., Canada, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Werneria pygmaea Gillies ex Hook. & Arn.

Asteraceae · Venezuela, Bolivia +7

English names not checked: Wikidata's common names were not read for this page.

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Werneria pygmaea, photograph Dick Culbert from Gibsons, B.C., Canada, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia CommonsWerneria pygmaea, photograph Nolan Exe, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsWerneria pygmaea, photograph Nolan Exe, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsWerneria pygmaea, photograph Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsWerneria pygmaea, photograph Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons 6 photographs ›
Habitat figures
Coldest month, mean nightly low
-3.0°C
Jul at the habitat, not a floor; extremes not used (the weather cell's ground is too far off) CHELSA
Warmest month, mean daily high
11°C
Jan, Feb, Mar, Oct, Nov and Dec at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
1,431mm
12 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
27–40DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in your months, northern hemisphere
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
Wet summers: the rain comes April to October (October to April at the habitat), read as a summer growing season. rain rule, CHELSA
Northern hemisphere unless you set your site. The chart is in the habitat's months.

Cultivation

Seasons

The rain rule reads a summer growing season: 70% of the median year's rain (908 mm of 1,279 mm) falls in October to April, warmer than the year (wet-season mean 6.1 °C against a yearly mean of 5.0 °C). Months are the habitat's, southern hemisphere; shifted six months for a northern-hemisphere collection: April to October.

Rain

1,279 mm in the median year at the habitat, 908 mm of it October to April. Wettest month March at 173 mm, driest month July at 62 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 379 mm to 3,081 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 1,431 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 1,279 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, southern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 27 to 40 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 21, the highest 90th-percentile month 59).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low -3.0 °C in July (across the grid cells of the range -11.2 °C to 3.3 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 10.9 °C in January, February and March (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: none read. The nearest figure is -3.0 °C, the coldest month's mean nightly low, July, in the median year (CHELSA); a month's mean of its nightly lows is warmer than the nights a floor is read from. The daily extremes were read at a weather cell whose ground is too far above or below the typical spot to correct for, and are not used.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 53 to 66% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. No cold floor is read without a daily extremes series; the coldest month's mean nightly low named in its sentence is not one. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat months, southern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Werneria pygmaea through the yearWarmest months January, February, March, October, November and December, mean daily high 11 °C; coldest month July, mean nightly low -3.0 °C; 1,279 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA. Habitat months, southern hemisphere.-15°-10°-5°0°5°10°15°20°frost°C · day and nightcold quarter0100200300400mm rainDLI 27–40RH 53–66%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 152 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C11 / 8–1611 / 8–1511 / 8–1510 / 6–139 / 0–128 / -4–118 / -5–119 / -3–1210 / -1–1311 / 2–1411 / 6–1511 / 7–16
Night °C2 / -1–52 / -1–52 / -1–50 / -4–5-1 / -8–4-3 / -10–4-3 / -11–3-3 / -10–3-2 / -10–40 / -7–41 / -4–42 / -1–5
Rain mm144 / 33–344151 / 32–320173 / 31–320115 / 8–33090 / 3–38778 / 3–32062 / 4–29964 / 3–24277 / 3–24591 / 7–321104 / 17–281130 / 26–292
DLI37 / 29–5736 / 29–5235 / 27–4732 / 25–4229 / 23–3827 / 21–3529 / 23–3733 / 27–4138 / 29–4940 / 28–5540 / 27–5938 / 28–59
RH %65 / 50–7066 / 50–7165 / 48–7163 / 43–7156 / 38–7155 / 35–7253 / 35–7154 / 36–6957 / 38–6861 / 41–6861 / 44–6963 / 48–68

The daily extremes were not used: the correction for elevation, +1416 m, is beyond the 1,000 m either way that a lapse rate is applied over, so the weather cell's ground is other terrain than the typical spot's. So no cold floor is read for this species, and the coldest month's mean nightly low is not taken as one. What that cell gave, so corrected, over 44 years: absolute minimum -10.1 °C, 1st-percentile night -6.7 °C.

How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 152 grid cells on land that hold in-range records (209 records in those cells; 1 more cell holds records but no land by the elevation layer, so those records sit at sea and the cell is left out), with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 1809:2037 (-0.475, -78.125). Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 152 distinct grid cells holding 209 of the 210 in-range records (1 further cell with records at sea, by the elevation layer, left out); extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1809:2037 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -0.50_-78.125, lapse-corrected +1416 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 4590 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.

This species has no GBIF key of its own. Its records are GBIF's under the key of the name Kew's World Checklist holds as this plant: 12265950 (Rockhausenia pygmaea (Gillies ex Hook. & Arn.) D.J.N.Hind, 672 records). No name was matched to GBIF; the keys are read from Kew's synonymy. How.

NativeVenezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina South, Argentina Northwest, Chile Central, Chile North · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker-16.298, -68.169 · in the densest population, 168 records (39% of those in range)
Kew's description“perennial or rhizomatous geophyte” · “montane tropical” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 434 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 209 of them in the land cells it reads, of 210 placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 338 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 89 km away. 1 record outside the WCVP native range not used. 224 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
Other GBIF keysRecords also from GBIF's key 12265950 (Rockhausenia pygmaea (Gillies ex Hook. & Arn.) D.J.N.Hind): Kew's file holds it as Rockhausenia pygmaea (Gillies ex Hook. & Arn.) D.J.N.Hind (synonym under Werneria pygmaea Gillies ex Hook. & Arn.); 672 records, from GBIF's download.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population inside the densest 4° block of the 434 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Werneria pygmaea, photograph 1did not loadWerneria pygmaea, photograph 2did not loadWerneria pygmaea, photograph 3did not loadWerneria pygmaea, photograph 4did not loadWerneria pygmaea, photograph 5did not load

Photographs: Dick Culbert from Gibsons, B.C., Canada, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Nolan Exe, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (2); Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (2).

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Distichia muscoides Distichia muscoides Juncaceae Photo: CC BY, Andrés Romero BravoCalandrinia acaulis Calandrinia acaulis Montiaceae Photo: CC0, author not statedPlantago tubulosa Plantago tubulosa Plantaginaceae Photo: CC BY, Yuri SofronovPolylepis pacensis Polylepis pacensis Rosaceae Photo: CC0, author not statedHypochaeris taraxacoides Hypochaeris taraxacoides Asteraceae Photo: CC BY, Wairambar RainforestLucilia kunthiana Lucilia kunthiana Asteraceae Photo: CC BY-SA, (c) Fabien Anthelme, some rights…

Other Werneria 2 in the reference

Werneria humilis Werneria humilis Asteraceae Photo: CC BY, Yuri SofronovWerneria nubigena Werneria nubigena Asteraceae Photo: CC BY, Dick Culbert from Gibsons, B.C., Canada

Names & registers

Also known as Werneria minima; Werneria rhizoma; Werneria pygmaea var. remyi; Werneria brachypappa; Werneria cherlerioides and 5 more. (WCVP, RBG Kew)

IPNIPOWOWikidataWFO

The record

Family
Asteraceae
Described by
Gillies ex Hook. & Arn.
Native to
Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia +6
Wild records
434 in range · 338 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-22
Kew's names (WCVP) kew.names answeredas of 2026-06-04Kew's entry Werneria pygmaea Gillies ex Hook. & Arn. (plant_name_id 3085506), read from Kew's names file
GBIF species record gbif.species not askedGBIF's backbone holds no one accepted species of this name, and a name it holds only as another species' synonym is not taken for this one, so GBIF's records were not asked
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms not askedGBIF's backbone holds no one accepted species of this name, and a name it holds only as another species' synonym is not taken for this one, so GBIF's records were not asked
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular not askedGBIF's backbone holds no one accepted species of this name, and a name it holds only as another species' synonym is not taken for this one, so GBIF's records were not asked
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredas of 2026-10-21this species has no GBIF key of its own; its records are read under GBIF's keys for the names Kew's file holds as this plant, never by a name matched; GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21; 672 records of GBIF's key 12265950, Rockhausenia pygmaea (Gillies ex Hook. & Arn.) D.J.N.Hind (Kew's file holds it as Rockhausenia pygmaea (Gillies ex Hook. & Arn.) D.J.N.Hind (synonym under Werneria pygmaea Gillies ex Hook. & Arn.)): the GBIF download
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-22
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-22NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -0.50_-78.125, lapse-corrected +1416 m at 6.5 °C/km; read, and set aside: the correction for elevation, +1416 m, is beyond the 1,000 m either way that a lapse rate is applied over, so the weather cell's ground is other terrain than the typical spot's, so no cold floor is shown
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-22found by Kew's IPNI identifier 260433-1, POWO 260433-1
Wikipedia wikipedia nothing to reportasked 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild not asked
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media not askedGBIF's backbone holds no one accepted species of this name, and a name it holds only as another species' synonym is not taken for this one, so GBIF's records were not asked
Wikimedia Commons commons answeredasked 2026-10-22
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 44 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

Cultifolio

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