Flora of New Zealand Series

Decumbent to ascending herb, (3)-5-15-(20) cm tall; prostrate stems rooting; erect flowering stems tomentose, 0.75-2 mm diam. Lvs spreading, distant, usually glabrous on upper surface, sometimes sparsely to densely white-tomentose, tomentose on lower, apetiolate, obovate, mucronate, amplexicaul, 5-9-(15) × 2-4-(6) mm. Uppermost lvs on flowering branches becoming narrower and finally narrow-oblanceolate, and more distant. Capitula 14-22-(25) mm diam., solitary, pedunculate. Middle involucral bracts (5)-6-9-(12) mm long; stereome tomentose; lamina longer, membranous, glabrous, elliptic to oblong, obtuse, milky white or rarely tinged rose or cream, radiating. Disc pale yellow. Achenes glabrous, obovoid-cylindric, slightly angled or compressed, 0.8-1.4 mm long.

N.; S.; St.; Ch., A., C., Ant.: lowland to alpine from 37° 30' southwards.

Endemic.

Open grassy or stony places and banks, grassland, scrubland, streamsides, forest margins and clearings.

FL Oct-Mar.

H. bellidioides is a very widespread and somewhat variable sp. In the typical form, common at lower altitudes, the lvs are usually glabrous on the upper surface; Hair, J. B. and Beuzenberg, E. J., New Zealand J. Bot. 6 : 22 (1968), recorded 2 n = 28 for such plants - var. gracile Allan does not appear distinct from this form. At higher altitudes in both North and South Is, stouter plants, with longer involucral bracts and the lvs broader and often hairy on the upper surface, are found; plants which appear similar are found on A. and C. and were referred by Allan (1961) to var. prostratum (Hook. f.) Kirk, but also have 2 n = 28 (Hair and Beuzenberg, op. cit.). Stout, hairy plants from Dun Mountain, Nelson were described by Kirk (1899) as var erectum. At least to some degree this variability in lf hairiness may occur on a single plant, and in some areas plants with glabrous or tomentose upper lf surfaces are sympatric. Plants from Mt Holdsworth and W. Ruahine Range have a chromosome number of 2 n = 84. [Beuzenberg, E. J. and Hair, J. B., New Zealand J. Bot. 22 : 354 (1984, as unnamed sp. aff. H. bellidioides)]. This unnamed sp. is widely sympatric with H. bellidioides sens. strict. in the North Id, but because of the variation in H. bellidioides cannot be clearly distinguished from it in the herbarium; it is therefore included within H. bellidioides sens. lat. at this stage.

Hybrids with Anaphalis spp. occur in many areas; these have generally larger lvs than does H. bellidiodes and may have more than one head per flowering stem. Also, hybrids between H. bellidioides and H. lanceolatum are widespread and common.