Flora of New Zealand Series

Stoloniferous perennial; stems 1-3, ascending to erect, simple, 1-15 cm tall. Lvs mostly basal; basal lvs cuneate to short or long petiole, usually densely white-tomentose on both surfaces including mid-vein, sometimes only moderately tomentose on upper, plane, narrowly to broadly elliptic or elliptic-obovate, obtuse to subacute, mucronate, (6)-10-40-(60) × 4-10 mm; cauline lvs 2-several, narrow and apetiolate, reduced upwards and finally scalelike, linear-triangular and amplexicaul. Capitula c. 4-6 mm diam., usually solitary, very rarely 2-3 together; subtending lvs 0 or much reduced; scape lateral, amongst or just exceeding lvs at flowering, greatly elongating at fruiting. Involucral bracts elliptic to narrow-oblong, usually obtuse, sometimes subacute, 5.5-6.5 mm long; stereome green, tinged reddish purple toward apex; lamina pale brown, sometimes with a dark band at base; gap and sometimes margins tinged pale to bright reddish purple. Achenes with short antrorse hairs, 0.8-1.0 mm long.

N.: south of Gisborne Province and Volcanic Plateau; S.: throughout.

Also indigenous to S.E. Australia.

Usually grassland, herbfield, bogs and swamp margins in montane to subalpine areas, also occasionally at lower altitudes in disturbed sites and in lawns.

Allan (1961) treated G. mackayi as var. mackayi of G. traversi, but Drury (1972, op. cit.) reinstated it as a distinct sp.