There are several forms closely related to R. eximia respecting which further information is much wanted. Mr. Townson sends a variety from Mount Frederic, near Westport, remarkable for the branches being quite flat at the tips, and so closely compacted that the tips show on the even surface of the hummock like mosaic. On the other hand, specimens collected by myself in the Mount Cook district are much less dense, the tips of the branches forming conspicuous mammillary knobs. I have seen no specimens of Mr. Kirk's var. lata, apparently distinguished by the broader and shorter less closely imbricate leaves. Nor are there any specimens in his herbarium of R. Brownii, Kirk, provisionally separated from R. eximia on account of the linear-oblong acute leaves.
10. R. Hectori, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 149.—Often forming broad dense patches. Stems prostrate, much branched, 1–3 in. long; branches ½–2 in. high, close-set, erect or ascending. Leaves closely imbricated, erecto- patent, 110–18 in. long, broadly ovate, obtuse, upper half thick and coriaceous and clothed with appressed silvery tomentum, lower half membranous, glabrous, back longitudinally grooved when dry. Heads small, 110–16 in. diam., sunk amongst the terminal leaves; involucral bracts in 2 series, linearoblong, scarious, subacute, glabrous, not white at the tips. Florets 10–18; female 3–6. Achene glabrous or nearly so. Pappus-hairs few, rigid, thickened at the tips.—Kirk, Students' Fl. 304.
Var. mollis, Buch. ex Kirk, Students' Fl. 305.—Smaller and not so rigid. Leaves not so closely imbricated, broader and softer, cottony at the base, not so silvery at the tip. Heads smaller. Florets 6–10. Achenes glabrous. Perhaps a distinct species.
South Island: Canterbury—Mount Dobson Range, T.F.C. Otago—Lake district, Hector and Buchanan! Mount St. Bathans, Hector Mountains, Mount Pisa, Ben Lomond, Petrie! 4000–6500 ft. December–January. Var. mollis: Mount St. Bathans, Petrie!
11. R. grandiflora, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 136, t. 37a.—Stems ½–2 in. long, tufted, simple or branched at the base, stout, ⅓–½ in. diam. with the leaves, erect or curved; roots long and wiry. Leaves imbricated all round the stem, 16–13 in. long, ovate- or lanceolate-subulate, gradually tapering to a subacute tip, rigid, striate on the back, clothed with silvery appressed tomentum, loosely cottony towards the base. Heads large, ⅓–⅔ in. diam., sunk among the terminal leaves; involucral bracts in about 2 series; the outer few, short, scarious; inner linear, obtuse, spreading, with long white radiating tips; receptacle small, convex, hispid. Florets 25–40, about one-third female, narrow, the rest hermaphrodite. Achene silky. Pappus-hairs rather slender, thickened at the tips.—Handb. N.Z. Fl. 150; Kirk, Students' Fl. 305.
North and South Islands: Frequent in mountain districts from the East Cape and Taupo to Foveaux Strait. 3000–6000 ft. December–January.
This has a different habit to any of the other species included in the genus, and would be far more appropriately placed in Helichrysum.
