Flora of New Zealand Series

Type locality: "Wairau Mountains, 3-4000'". Type: K, Travers. Also in Australia.

Tufted herb up to 10 cm. tall clad in dense soft white tomentum. Lvs mainly radical, ascending, linear to linear-spathulate to obovate-spathulate, 2-5 cm. × 3-6 mm.; slender petiole = or > lamina. Stems few or solitary, scapiform, very slender, lvs diminishing to linear bracts. Capitula solitary, c. 1 cm. diam.; receptacle alveolate, flat to shallowly concave, c. 2-3 mm. diam. Outer phyll. short, floccose without; inner glab., scarious, linear, acute, 4-5 mm. long. Achenes c. 1 mm. long, sparsely puberulous, becoming glab., narrow-elliptic. Pappus of 15-20 filiform spreading hairs c. 5 mm. long.

DIST.: N., S. Montane to alpine wet tussock-grassland, herbfield and bog, from lat. 39° southwards.

FL. 10-3. FT. 12-4.

Var. mackayi (Buchan.) Kirk. Stud. Fl. 1899, 299.  Raoulia m'Kayi Buchan. in T.N.Z.I. 14, 1882, 354, t. 34, f. 2.  Gnaphalium mackayi (Buchan.) Ckn. Veg. N.Z. ed. 2, 1928, 439. Plant forming loose small mats, branchlets densely aggregated; lvs close-set, spreading, c. 1-2 cm. × 3-4 mm., linear-oblong to obovate-spathulate, us. apiculate; petioles broad, scarious, us. almost glab. Capitula 4-5 mm. diam., sessile or very shortly peduncled; phyll. linear, acute to acuminate, scarious, glab., except shorter floccose-hairy outer series. Dist.: N., S. Ruahine Range southwards, peaty and boggy, mostly montane, ground. Type locality: "Named in compliment to Mr. A. McKay of the Geological Survey, as a successful collector, who discovered the present species on Black Peak Range, South Island, at 5,000´ feet alt." Type: not located.

Appearing very distinct on peaty ground, but plants in my garden rapidly assumed the stature and appearance of G. traversii. Further study is desirable.