Flora of New Zealand Series

Senecio argutus A. Rich. Essai Fl. N.Z. 1832, 258 non Kunth in H.B. & K. Nov. Gen. Sp 4, 1820, 183.

Type locality: Astrolabe Harbour. Type: P.

Stout short-lived perennial herb (sts biennial ?); stems sulcate, ± clad in cobwebby hairs, sparingly branched below infl. or simple, up to ± 1 m. tall, c. 1 cm. diam. at hardened ± woody base. Lower and mid lvs ± 5-15 × 2-4 cm., on very short narrowly winged semiamplexicaul petioles. Lamina oblong to obovate-spathulate to sublanceolate in outline, acute to obtuse, clad on both surfaces in dense to thin cobwebby tomentum, becoming ± glab. above in age. Margins ± recurved, coarsely irregularly toothed to pinnatifid; lobes sinuate-dentate. Upper lvs similar, us. less deeply lobed, often entire towards tips, subsessile, with auriculate semiamplexicaul bases. Infl. a rather dense subcorymbose panicle; capitula ∞, c. 5-8 mm. long, c. 3-5 mm. diam., calyculate with small bracteoles; pedicels ± densely clad in cobwebby tomentum. Phyll. 10-14, c. 5-6 mm. long, linear, subacute to ± acuminate, ± clad in cobwebby hairs towards base, nerves 2-3, margins scarious. Florets up to 40; ♀ occ. bearing staminodes, filiform, 2-3-lobed; perfect slender-funnelform, 4-5-toothed. Achenes c. 1-2 mm. long, striate, hispid. Pappus-hairs fine, white, up to 7 mm. long.

DIST.: Three Kings, N., S., St. Coastal to montane grassland, forest margins, open places, ± common throughout.

As understood in N.Z. the sp. is a complex of unresolved forms still not adequately compared with Australian and Tasmanian forms. For a discussion of the complicated synonymy see Belcher loc. cit. 62. Placing the sp. in Senecio Belcher adopts the name Senecio glomeratus Desf. ex Poiret in Lam. Encycl. Suppl. 5, 1817, 130.