margins waved or crisped, spinous-toothed; lower ones petiolate, upper semi-amplexicaul with rounded auricles. Heads ¾–1 in. diam., crowded in a short corymbose panicle, sometimes almost umbellate. Involucre glabrous, bracts acute. Achenes oblong, compressed, longitudinally ribbed but not marked with transverse wrinkles or asperities.—Kirk, Students Fl. 362. S. oleraceus var. β, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 153; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 166.
Var. littoralis, Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxvi. (1894) 265.—Often biennial or perennial. Stems rather stout, 1–2 ft. high, sparingly branched; root thick and fleshy. Leaves mostly radical, spreading, 3–7 in. long, linear-oblong or linear-obovate, obtuse or acute, finely or coarsely toothed, rather thick, almost fleshy; cauline leaves few, acute, amplexicaul. Outer involucral bracta obtuse, inner acute. Achenes longitudinally ribbed, glabrous.—Students' Fl. 362.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island, Chatham Islands: Abundant throughout, from the North Cape southwards; the variety littoralis confined to maritime cliffs. Sow-thistle; Rauroroa; Tawheke; Puwha. Flowers from spring to autumn.
As this was collected by Banks and Solander it must be regarded as indigenous. The variety littoralis is a very curious form, and may be entitled to rank as a species.
2. S. oleraceus, Linn. Sp. Plant. 794.—A tall erect annual herb 2–3 ft. high, glabrous or sparsely glandular above. Leaves lanceolate, entire or toothed or pinnatifid; margins flat or nearly so, not crisped; lower ones petiolate, upper semi-amplexicaul with sagittate acute auricles. Heads ¾–1 in. diam., crowded in a short corymbose panicle, often subumbellate. Involucres glabrous or slightly cottony at the base, sometimes with a few glandular hairs. Achenes linear-oblong, compressed, longitudinally grooved and conspicuously transversely wrinkled.—S. oleraceus var. α, Hook, f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 153; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 166; Kirk, Students Fl. 362.
Kermadec Islands, North and South Islands, Stewart Island, Chatham Islands: Abundant throughout. Sow-thistle; Pororua; Rauriki. Flowers from spring to autumn. Perhaps not truly native.
3. S. grandifolius, T. Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxvi. (1894) 266.—Rootstock stout, fleshy, creeping, sometimes 2½ in. diam. Stem tall, robust, succulent, corymbosely branched above, 2–5 ft. high. Radical leaves 1–2½ ft. long, 4–8 in. broad; petioles 6–9 in., stout, dilated at the base but not amplexicaul; blade oblong or ovate-oblong, irregularly pinnatifid or pinnate; segments 4–6 pairs, broad, overlapping, coarsely doubly serrate or dentate, almost spinous-toothed, subcoriaceous, scabrid above, veins finely reticulate. Upper cauline leaves sessile by a broad base. Heads large, 1–1½ in. diam.; pedicels clothed with white cottony wool. Involucral bracts in 3–4 series, broadest at the base, gradually tapering into
