Flora of New Zealand Series

Erect, or ascending perennial herb. Lvs glabrous to sparsely hairy and glandular, ovate to elliptic, long-cuneate to amplexicaul base, usually irregularly dentate to 2-serrate, or pinnately lobed and dentate, rarely crenate, with up to 20 or more teeth on each side, 12-18-(21) × 4-8-(9) cm. Uppermost lvs elliptic to oblong, broad-based and conspicuously amplexicaul. Supplementary bracts 3-7, 1-3-(4) mm long. Involucral bracts (11)-13-22, glabrous, 3-5.5 mm long. Ray florets 7-14; ligules yellow, 5.5-14 mm long. Disc yellow, c. 5-8 mm diam. Achenes hairy only between the narrow ribs or ± evenly hairy, narrowed to apex, 2-2.5 mm long.

N.; S.: 38°-43°.

Endemic.

Lowland to subalpine stream sides, forest margins, shrubland, banks, cliffs and roadsides.

FL Oct-Apr.

This sp. is variable in lf form and hairiness; involucral bracts vary greatly in number and may be glabrous or sparsely to densely hairy. Allan (1961) accepted var. solandri (Allan) Allan and var. sinuatifolius (Kirk) Allan in addition to 2 forms of var. rufiglandulosus, but it is difficult to assign material satisfactorily to these categories. S. rufiglandulosus is distinguished from most N.Z. Senecio spp. by the glabrous or sparsely hairy, oblong, amplexicaul upper stem lvs and the many-flowered corymbs; it shares these characters with some forms of S. banksii from which it is distinguished by the long-cuneate lower lvs, the narrower ribs of the achenes, and in being summergreen rather than evergreen.