½–2 in. long, linear-obovate or spathulate, obtuse, crenate-serrate or lobulate or semipiunatifid, often deeply pinnatifid or pinnate at the base, lobes or segments entire or the upper margins more or less deeply toothed or incised. Peduncles axillary, longer or shorter than the leaves, naked, pubescent. Heads unisexual; males ⅙–¼ in. diam.; involucral bracts few, in 2 series, oblong-orbicular, pubescent, with broad purple scarioiis margins. Florets numerous, eglandular, funnel-shaped. Female heads larger, ⅕–⅓ in. diam. or more; involucral bracts more numerous, imbricated in 3 or 4 series, incurved. Florets many; corolla ovoid-conic, inflated at the base, narrowed and minutely toothed at the mouth. Achene obovoid, curved, rounded at the back.—Kirk, Students' Fl. 328. Leptinella dioica, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 129.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island: Not uncommon from the Great Barrier Island and the Kaipara Harbour southwards; most plentiful near the sea, but ascending to 3000 ft. November–February.
A most puzzling plant, exceedingly variable in the size of the leaves and the extent to which they are toothed or divided, and also varying much in the size of the flower-heads. Mr. Kirk divided it into three species; but these are clearly connected by intermediate forms, and cannot always be distinguished by the descriptions he has given. The following are the chief varieties, but it must be borne in mind that the characters used to separate them are purely arbitrary.
Var. a.—Leaves 1–2 in., obovate-spathulate, membranous, flaccid, toothed or lobulate above, pinnatifid below, segments entire or toothed. Abundant.
Var. crenatifolia, Kirk, Students' Fl.—Leaves ¾–3 in., oblong-spathulate, membranous, crenate-toothed, with a few deeper divisions at the base of the leaf. Mountain swamps in the South Island.
Var. rotundata.—More robust, hairy. Leaves ½–1½ in., orbicular-spathulate, toothed above, usually lobulate or pinnatifid below.—Cliffs between the Manukau and Kaipara Harbours, T.F.C.; East Coast, Colenso!
Var. pulchella.—Slender. Leaves ⅓–2½ in., linear-oblong or linear-obovate, membranous but firm, pinnatifid, often pinnate at the base. Often difficult to separate from var. a, but leaves usually narrower and more deeply divided.—C. pulchella, Kirk, Students' Fl. 328. Swamps in the South Island, Stewart Island.
Var. obscura.—Very small, ¾–1 in. long. Leaves few, ⅓–½ in., oblong-lanceolate or linear-oblong, lobed or pinnatifid, lobes 3 or 4 on each side. Heads small, 110–18 in. diam.—C. obscura, Kirk, l.c. 327. Swamps at Woodend, Southland, Kirk!
17. CENTIPEDA, Lour.
Annual or perennial herbs. Leaves alternate, entire or coarsely toothed. Heads small, sessile on the branches or racemose, heterogamous and discoid. Involucre hemispherical; bracts in 2 series, subequal, margins scarious. Receptacle flat or convex, naked. Female florets exterior, in several rows, fertile; corolla minute, tubular, obscurely lobed. Disc-florets few, hermaphrodite, cam-
