Flora of New Zealand Series

G. bellidifolia var. magnifica Kirk in T.N.Z.I. 27, 1895, 337.

Type locality: "Ridges near the summit of Mount Captain, Amuri; 4,500 ft." Type: W, 4715, T. Kirk.

Basal Ivs ∞, rosulate, obovate-spathulate, fleshy, ± 30 × 15 mm., shortly petiolate, subacute; stems 8, up to 7*5 cm. long; cauline Ivs few or 0, ± 30 × 9 mm., oblong, acute or subacute. Fls pedicellate in axils of linear bracts, forming a globular mass up to ± 20 cm. diam. Calyx c. 1/2 corolla-length, cut ⅔ way into broad-oblong subacute to obtuse lobes 3-5 mm. broad. Corolla c. 2 mm. long, deeply cut; lobes broad, rounded.

DIST.: S. Subalpine on mountains of the Amuri district.

Kirk says: "A singular and beautiful form, which will probably be found to deserve specific honours. The plants are solitary, and scattered over the slope of the ridge, so that they resemble large snowballs, and attract the attention of the observer long before he reaches their habitat. No traces of leaves are visible until the plant is dug up, when the crowded remains of dead leaves at the base of the rosette, combined with the stout root, afford evidence of the lengthened period of duration enjoyed by this form. The flowers become yellow during desiccation. It is nearly allied to G. cerina, Hook. f."

Kirk (loc. cit. 337) describes his var. vacillata of G. bellidifolia thus: "Stems suberect, numerous, very slender, 3 in.-4 in. long, 1-3-flowered. Leaves linear-spathulate; cauline smaller, narrowed below, but not petioled. Calyx cleft nearly to the base; sepals broadly oblong, obtuse. Hab. South Island: Canterbury Alps; J. B. Armstrong! Otago─Mount Earnslaw; T. Kirk. Apparently local." There is an Armstrong specimen so labelled in Herb. Kirk (W 4716).