Flora of New Zealand Series

Hooker (loc. cit. 123) gives the diagnosis: "Caule brevi robusto diviso, folioso, foliis congestis patulis lineari- v. oblongo-obovatis obtusis subacutisve remote et obscure dentatis superne glaberrimis subsulcatis luride viridibus subtus lana arcte appressa argenteis, petiolo brevi lato vagina sulcata sericea, scapis gracilibus bracteis subulatis involucrique (subsquarrosi) squamis glanduloso-pubescentibus, capitulis ut in C. incana, acheniis sericeis, receptaculo profunde alveolato."

Forms reasonably agreeing with the type are widespread, the us. lf-range being 20-25 × 6-9 mm.; different lamina-shapes may be found on the same plant. Achenes 3-4 mm. long, narrow-cylindric, rather sparsely clad in short stiff ascending hairs. There is a fragment of the type in the Canterbury Museum.