Flora of New Zealand Series

Type locality: "Nova Zeelandia". Type: P, 154.

Annual to biennial herbs with single or few stems arising from stock, unbranched, angled, appressed-tomentose, becoming glab. or nearly so below, up to c. 4 dm. tall. Lvs narrow-linear to narrow-lanceolate or narrow-oblanceolate, apiculate, semiamplexicaul at base, glab. above, clad in appressed white tomentum below; lower lvs ± 10-20 cm. × 5-10 mm., upper lvs smaller. Infl. of a single terminal glomerule of capitula subtended by foliaceous bracts of unequal size from 2-7 cm. long, having woolly hairs at base, innermost short, widely expanded at base. Capitula c. 10-15 per glomerule, c. 3-5 mm. diam., invested with white floccose hairs at base. Phyll. scarious; outer broad, obtuse; inner linear, subacute, c. 4 mm. long. Receptacle c. 2 mm. diam., convex, finely alveolate. Pappus-hairs c. 10, filiform, sordid-white, c. 3 mm. long. Achenes c. 0∙5 mm. long, linear, minutely papillose and with scattered appressed hairs.

DIST.: K., Three Kings, N., S., St., Ch. Occ. in open ground.

FL. 11-2. FT. 12-3.

Richard (Essai Fl. N.Z. 1832, 240) gives a full description and observes: "Les échantillons qui ont été recueillis au havre de l'Astrolabe, sur les rochers récemment couverts de terre, ont les feuilles beaucoup plus étroites et d'un verte plus foncé à la face supérieure, que l'échantillon original de Forster, qui existe dans les herbiers du Muséum. Néanmoins ils n'offrent aucune différence sensible, et nous les regardons sans nul doute comme appartenant à cette espèce." The sp. is compound and closely related to G. japonicum, but until both spp. have been thoroughly studied it is inadvisable to create new varietal names. G. japonicum, in various forms, is plentiful in waste places in N.Z., but appears to be naturalized only.

There are several described forms of undetermined status, including G. virgatum Banks et Sol. ex Hook. f. Fl. N.Z. 1, 1853, 139, G. lanatum Forst. f. Prodr. 1786, 55 and G. Cunninghamii DC. Prodr. 6, 1838, 235. Cheeseman (Man. N.Z. Fl. 1925, 966) and Kirk (Stud. Fl. 1899, 300) include all the annual to biennial plants with the glomerules subtended by lfy bracts under G. japonicum Thunb. Fl. jap. 1784, 311.