long or linear-oblong, thin and hyaline. Achene silky. Pappus-hairs plumose, as long as the florets.—A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 245; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 446; Raoul, Choix, 45; Kirk, Students' Fl. 316. C. fimbriata, D.C. Prodr. vi. 152; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 131; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 144. C. Richea, Cass. in Dict. Sci. Nat. xi. 353; Benth. Fl. Austral. iii. 579. Staehelina fimbriata, Forst. ex D.C. Prodr. vi. 153.
Var. robusta, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 131.—Stout. Leaves obovate-spathulate, subacute, narrowed into a broad flat petiole, sparsely hispid or glabrate, without white cottony margins. Scape leafy. Compound head large, 1–2 in. diam.—C. uniflora var. pedicellata, Kirk, Students' Fl. 317.
Var. minor, Hook. f. l.c.—Small, slender, 6–12 in. high, rarely more. Leaves spathulate, membranous, glabrous or sparsely hispid, sometimes with raised viscid points, usually without white cottony margins. Compound head small, ¼–½ in. diam.—C. viscosa, Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xvi. (1884) 333.
Var. lanata, Hook. f. l.c.—Everywhere clothed with dense shaggy snow-white wool.—C. alpina, Backh. in Hook. Lond. Journ. Bot. vi. (1847) 119; Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 144.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island: Abundant from the East Cape and Taupo southwards. Sea-level to 5000 ft. December–February.
A most variable plant. The three varieties described above look very distinct in their extreme forms, but are connected with the ordinary state of the species by numerous intermediates.
14. SIEGESBECKIA, Linn.
Glandular-pubescent herbs with opposite leaves. Heads rather small, in leafy panicles, heterogamous, subradiate. Involucre campanulate or hemispherical; bracts few, in about 2 rows, herbaceous, glandular-hispid; the outer spathulate, spreading; inner erect, concave, enclosing the ray-florets. Receptacle small, paleaceous; scales membranous, concave, often enclosing the florets. Ray-florets in 1 series, female, tube short, limb 2–3-fid. Disc-florets hermaphrodite, tubular with a campanulate 5-toothed mouth. Anthers entire at the base. Style-branches of the hermaphrodite florets short, flattened, usually obtuse. Achenes obovoid-oblong, not compressed, usually curved. Pappus wanting.
Species probably not more than 2, the one found in New Zealand an almost cosmopolitan weed in warm climates, the other confined to Peru.
1. S. orientalis, Linn. Sp. Plant. 900.—A sparingly branched erect annual 1–3 ft. high, with spreading opposite lower branches, more or less pubescent in all its parts. Leaves 1–4 in. long, triangular-ovate, the upper narrower and oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, cuneate at the base, petiolate, membranous, irregularly toothed or lobed or almost entire. Heads ¼–⅓ in. diam., yellow; outer involucral bracts usually longer than the inner, covered with glandbearing hairs. Florets small, the rays very short. Outer achenes rough.—Benth. Fl. Austral. iii. 535; Kirk, Students Fl. 317.
