Flora of New Zealand Series

Much-branched shrub up to c. 3 m tall; branchlets not obscured by lvs, tomentose when very young, soon almost glabrous, c. 1-2 mm diam. Lvs spreading, distant, glabrous on upper surface, densely white-tomentose on lower, elliptic, ovate-elliptic, or broad-ovate to orbicular, obtuse to slightly retuse, mucronate, with narrow long-cuneate base < to c. = lamina, (6)-10-40-(50) × 4-25 mm. Lvs on flowering shoots smaller. Capitula 1-2 mm diam., 5-many in axillary or terminal, sessile or shortly pedunculate clusters, or clusters aggregated into small branched infls. Middle involucral bracts glabrous to moderately hairy, oblong- to ovate-elliptic, obtuse, not radiating, with transparent membranous lamina and opaque stereome, 2-3 mm long. Disc pale yellow. Achenes minutely papillate, cylindric, angled, c. 0.6 mm long.

N.; S.

Endemic.

Coastal and lowland open forest, forest margins, scrubland and cliffs.

Allan (1961) treated this entity as H. glomeratum (Raoul) Benth. et Hook. f. ex Kirk and accepted 3 vars. Var. majus Allan and var. lanceolatum (Buchanan) Allan are both based on plants from the northern North Id which differ from the form which occurs throughout N.Z. in having lvs more often > 30 × 20 mm, and sometimes elliptic or elliptic-ovate, and in the infls more often being branched corymbs. These large-leaved forms do not appear distinct from each other, and cannot be clearly distinguished from the widespread somewhat variable plant. The name used by Allan is a later homonym of H. aggregatum Klatt, and so H. lanceolatum is the earliest available name for the whole sp. If the large-leaved northern plant on which H. lanceolatum is based is considered specifically distinct, then the name H. aggregatum Yeo applies to the more widespread plant.