Oreomyrrhis ramosa Hook.f.
O. andicola var. ramosa Kirk Stud. Fl. 1899, 198.
Type locality: "Otago, river flats in the lake district". Type: K, Hector and Buchanan, 1863. Fr. glab.
Lax perennial herb with much-branched slender spreading stems up to c. 6 dm. long. Lvs pinnate to 2-pinnate, on slender petioles up to c. 15 cm. long. Lamina ovate-oblong in outline; lflts in few pairs, on very slender petiolules up to 15 mm. long; lflts of basal lvs up to 15 × 20 mm., us. less, coarsely apiculately toothed, cuneately narrowed to base; pinnules of cauline lvs and often of basal ones ± 10 × 5 mm., very membr., on filiform petiolules 2-5 mm. long, pinnatifid to pinnatisect; segs linear to narrow-lanceolate, ± apiculate. Umbels on very slender peduncles up to ± 25 cm. long. Involucral bracts several, linear to linear-lanceolate, apiculate, up to c. 5 mm. long. Rays 10-15, unequal, very slender, up to c. 2 cm. long. Fr. glab. to pubescent, linear or very slightly widened towards base, ± 5-6 mm. long, strongly ribbed.
DIST.: N., S. Montane grassland and open places from Ruahine Range southwards.
A rather polymorphic sp. with considerable diversity in lflt-size and degree of hairiness in the different parts. Kirk (Stud. Fl. 1899, 198) describes his var. apiculata thus: "Stems branched, almost capillary. Peduncles short. Leaves glabrous, deltoid-ovate, ternately divided; leaflets mostly 3-foliolate; segments petioled, lobed and toothed, apiculate." The type in W ("near Invercargill, W. S. Hamilton, March 6, 1864") is labelled by Kirk as Oreomyrrhis andicola Endlich. var. ramosa. Kirk remarks: "Better specimens of this curious plant are badly wanted; it may prove a distinct species." The umbel rays are filiform, up to ± 2 cm. long; the few frs remaining are curved, linear, slightly widened near apex, nearly glab., c. 7 mm. long. The apiculus is hardly more pronounced than in other forms. Somewhat similar forms have been collected by Petrie at Speargrass Flat, near Alexandra, by Allan at the head of Long Sound, and by Poole in Stillwater Valley, Caswell Sound. The material is insufficient for a satisfactory diagnosis.
