Flora of New Zealand Series

oxtongue

Annual or biennial. Stem erect or ascending, branched above, grooved, 30-100 cm tall, with spreading bristly hairs each bearing 3-4 recurved barbs at apex. Lvs with stiff spreading bristles, each bristle with 3-4 recurved barbs at apex, some stout with white bulbous bases, most finer. Basal lvs oblong to oblanceolate, sinuate to shallowly dentate, acute or obtuse, (2)-8-20-(30) × (0.5)-1.5-4-(8) cm, tapered to short winged petiole. Lower stem lvs similar to basal, with rounded amplexicaul auricles. Upper stem lvs smaller, lanceolate to deltoid, with rounded amplexicaul auricles. Capitula numerous. Involucre 15-20 mm long; outer bracts ovate-cordate, with attenuate apex, bristly especially on margins, slightly < inner bracts; inner bracts lanceolate with pectinate-bristly apex. Corolla yellow, sometimes with red stripe on outer face of ligule, c. 11/2× length of involucre. Achenes cylindric, transversely wrinkled; body 2-3-(5) mm long; beak > body; outer achenes few, pale, curved, downy on one side; inner achenes numerous, red-brown, straight, glabrous. Pappus white, plumose, seemingly in 1 row.

N.: Northland, Auckland, Bay of Plenty, East Cape, Hawke's Bay, Taranaki, Manawatu, Wellington; S.: Nelson, Marlborough, Canterbury, Westland (Greymouth), Otago (Bannockburn), Southland (Wallacetown).

S. Europe, S.W. Asia, N. Africa 1869

Waste land, roadsides, railway ballast, pasture, cultivated land, coastal cliffs.

P. echioides has also been recorded in N.Z. as Helmintia echioides.