Flora of New Zealand Series

Tufted perennial; rhizome stout. Stem erect, sparsely hairy or glabrous, (10)-30-60 cm tall. Basal lvs broadly reniform, deeply 3-5-lobed, 5-10 cm diam.; lobes toothed or more deeply divided into linear segments; upper lvs and bracts smaller, becoming deeply divided into few or many narrow linear segments. Fls 1-3 per stem, 1.5-3-(4) cm diam.; pedicels with sparse fine hairs. Sepals spreading, glabrous or sparsely hairy. Petals 8-15, yellow, narrowly linear-oblong; nectary single, (1)-2-3 mm from petal base, naked. Receptacle glabrous. Achenes numerous, not flattened, glabrous; body 1.5-2 mm long; beak straight, 1-2 mm long.

N.: Volcanic Plateau, Ruahine, Tararua and Rimutaka Ranges; S.: mountains of W. Marlborough, Nelson and N. Westland.

Endemic.

Wet grassland, scrub and rocky places, 750-1500 m.

Fisher (1965, op. cit.) gives a fuller description and an illustration.

R. verticillatus was treated as R. clivalis by Allan (1961).