Flora of New Zealand Series

C. obscura Kirk Stud. Fl. 1899, 327.

"Stems very short, slightly creeping, 3/4 in.-1in. long, rather stout for the size of the plant. Leaves few, tufted, glabrous, fleshy, 1/3 in. -1/2 in. long including the petiole, oblong-lanceolate, obtuse, shortly pinnatifid or with 3 obtuse lobes on each side. Scapes longer or shorter than the leaves, glabrous. Heads unisexual, about 1/10 in. -⅛. in. diameter; involucral bracts 5-6, oblong or oblong-ovate, fleshy, glabrous or glabrate. Receptacle conical. Female florets few; corolla tubular, as long as the ovary; mouth minutely 3-4-toothed, eglandular; achenes (immature) linear-oblong, cuneate. Male florets trumpet-shaped; mouth broad, 4-lobed."

DIST.: "South Island: in swamps at Woodend, Southland, T.K., Nov. (1887).

"Better specimens of this curious little plant are much wanted, the material collected not being sufficiently advanced. The female scapes seen are very slender."

The above description is quoted from Kirk. loc. cit.