Flora of New Zealand Series

Annual or biennial, 8-50 cm tall, branched only at base; stems 1-several, usually erect, sometimes ascending. Basal lvs dead but persisting at flowering or sometimes 0. Lower cauline lvs apetiolate but lowermost often long-cuneate, densely tomentose on lower surface, sparsely to moderately tomentose on upper, somewhat discolorous, plane, oblanceolate to spathulate or narrow-obovate, obtuse to acute, mucronate, undulate or flat, 20-60 × 3-10-(14) mm; uppermost lvs smaller, broader based, plane or folded and sometimes falcate, often ± narrow-oblong. Capitula in dense terminal and axillary clusters; clusters forming terminal spikes and sometimes scattered below. Involucral bracts elliptic-oblong, acute or apiculate, 4-4.5 mm long; stereome green; lamina pale brown, often darker at base, sometimes flushed reddish purple; gap and margins clear or marked reddish purple; outer bract usually hairy at base. Achenes minutely papillate, 0.6-0.8 mm long.

FL Nov-Apr.

Most N. American Floras adopt a broad concept of G. purpureum including G. americanum, G. calviceps, and sometimes G. pensylvanicum as vars, and usually treating G. ustulatum simply as a synonym of  var. purpureum. Here, G. americanum, G. pensylvanicum and G. calviceps are accepted as distinct spp., following Drury (1971, op. cit.); they are readily distinguished from G. purpureum by the glabrous upper lf surface, the short bracts and achenes, and concolorous lvs respectively. G. ustulatum Nutt. and G. purpureum, as defined by Drury, are treated at varietal level below. The difference between the bract apices of the 2 vars gives a very dissimilar appearance to their capitula (Fig. 27), but not all N.Z. material can be readily assigned to one or other var.

Fig. 27. Capitula of Gnaphalium purpureum. A  var. purpureum; B var. ustulatum. © All rights reserved. [Image: 4X4J]