Cotula pectinata Hook.f.
Type locality: Canterbury Plains. Type: K, Haast.
Stems and branches creeping, rooting, silky-hairy to nearly glab., wiry, forming rather open patches up to c. 2 dm. diam. Lvs scattered to close set in tufts at nodes, rather narrow-oblong, on slender, rigid, erect petioles up to 10 mm. long. Lamina ± 20-30-40 × 10-20 mm. in open state, glab. to sparsely hairy, pinnate to pinnatisect; pinnae linear, c. 3-5 pairs, rather rigid, subcoriac., acute, us. apiculate; upper c. 7 × 1 mm., lower us. minute; costa rigid, slender, ± clad in ascending hairs. Scape very slender, up to 10 cm. long, nude or with 1 minute bract near middle. Capitula c. 5-7 mm. diam.; receptacle conical. Phyll. up to c. 20 in 2-3 series, 3-3·5 mm. long, ± oblong, densely clad on outside in long subappressed hairs; apex purplish, erose, midvein evident. Florets white. ♀ in several series; corolla ovoid, narrowed at mouth, minutely 2-4-toothed. ♂ funnelform, glandular, tube c. 3 mm. long, teeth ovate-triangular, c. 1 mm. long. Achenes narrow-obovoid, compressed, c. 2 mm. long, ± glandular, strongly grooved.
DIST.: S. Montane to lower subalpine open grassland, fellfield, rocky places from c. lat. 42° to 45°30'.
The epithet pectinata though emphasized by Kirk and Cheeseman is not appropriate.
