Flora of New Zealand Series

Stoloniferous perennial; stems 1-3, ascending, simple, 1-7 cm tall. Lvs mostly basal; basal lvs apetiolate and cuneate, usually densely white-tomentose on both surfaces except mid-vein on lower, sometimes less hairy on upper, usually plane, sometimes folded, narrow-elliptic to oblanceolate or ± linear, obtuse and shortly mucronate, 5-35-(70) × 1-6-(7) mm; cauline lvs 2-6, usually much reduced upwards and finally scale-like, sometimes 1-3 leaflike and subtending capitulum. Capitula (1.5)-2-3 mm diam., solitary; scape amongst lvs at flowering, thin and usually exposed above lvs at fruiting. Involucral bracts elliptic-oblong, obtuse, 4-5.2 mm long; stereome green, usually tinged reddish purple at apex; lamina mid to dark brown, with darker markings toward base; gap and margins usually tinged reddish purple, rarely clear. Achenes with sparse antrorse hairs, 1-1.3 mm long.

N.: south of Mt Egmont and Mt Ruapehu; S.: throughout.

Probably also indigenous to Australia.

Mostly bogs, swamps, seepages and lake or stream sides in grassland or herbfield, (500)-700-2000 m.

Plants of this newly described sp. have usually been identified as G. mackayi, but are clearly distinguished from that sp. by the lateral scapes and hairy achenes. G. laterale is distinguished from G. traversii by the much smaller capitula and from G. polylepis and G. paludosum by the densely tomentose upper surface of the lvs, the larger capitula, and by being generally stouter. Most plants included here have plane lvs, those with very narrow, often folded lvs may constitute a distinct entity; the upper lf surface is densely tomentose even in those with folded lvs - in G. paludosum the upper surface of folded lvs is glabrous. At least some Australian material referred to G. traversii would be better referred to G. laterale.