Var. semicordata
C. semi-cordata Petrie in T.N.Z.I. 46, 1914, 33.
Type locality: "Buckland Peaks (Near Westport), 3,300-4,000 ft." Type: W, 3293, D. Petrie.
Lamina ± 15-30 × 3·5 cm., obliquely subcordate at base, oblong-lanceolate; upper surface with very delicate pellicle. Scape slender, 30-40 cm. long, tomentum rather loose. Capitula 25-30-(40) mm. diam.; achenes ± 5 mm. long.
DIST.: S. Local, coastal to lower subalpine from near Charleston southwards.
Petrie remarks: "The Charleston specimens have much shorter and more slender scapes and smaller flower-heads than usual, while their subacute leaves exhibit remarkable variation in size, being often less than half as long as in the typical mountain form, which shows very little variation. The plant is plentiful above the bush-line on the Buckland Peaks, and at higher levels is associated with C. Armstrongii and C. Dallii." A small population examined by me on coastal rocks near Charleston showed the diversity indicated by Petrie, the size of the lvs being apparently greatly influenced by the degree of exposure to salt spray.
Cockayne (T.N.Z.I. 31, 1899, 422) included in his description of C. flaccida : "Leaves narrow-lanceolate to lanceolate, from 21 cm. to 14 cm. long × 27 mm. to 20 mm. broad, spreading, soft, coriaceous only when dry, with subserrate, considerably recurved margins; lamina at base usually tapering into the petiole, occasionally slightly rounded; upper surface covered with thin pellicle of white sometimes brownish silky tomentum, wrinkled into long parallel ridges . . . Under surface densely covered with a thick mat of white or yellowish-white silky tomentum; midrib stout, widening gradually towards petiole; nerves usually six pairs; petioles rather more than half as long as lamina, contracted and very fleshy at junction with lamina, gradually widening out into a broad white transparent sheathing base, covered with loose cobwebby hairs, numerous on under-surface, and especially on margin of sheath, fewer on upper surface and constricted portion. Scapes half as long again as the leaves, somewhat flattened, with sharp edges and slightly twisted, quite flat in herbarium specimens . . . bracts numerous, amplexicaul, fleshy, leafy, subulate or linear, 5 cm. to 6 cm. in length, few towards base but very numerous and imbricating towards summit of scape where the uppermost surround the flower-head . . . involucral scales numerous . . . linear . . . Head 4·5 cm. in diameter; disc-florets densely crowded, numerous, divisions of corolla thickened round margin; rays linear-spathulate, 17 mm. long × 2 mm. broad, marked with parallel ridges and furrows, faintly serrate, tip yellowish-green, often swollen or bifid; pappus 6 mm. to 7 mm. long. Achenes ripe, not seen, almost glabrous. Hab. Wet ground, near margins of swamps, in company with C. petiolata, Arthur's Pass; altitude 900 m.; L.C. (1898) . . . This species has very possibly hitherto been confused with C. monroi Hook. f."
Cockayne's specimen at K of his C. flaccida has lanceolate-oblong, acute laminae c. 8-9 × 1·5-1·7 cm., softly pilose-tomentose above, less so with age; undersurface with appressed very pale buff, somewhat shining, tomentum; midrib prominent below; petiole c. 15 mm. long, widening to sheath. I have not found specimens so named by Cockayne in N.Z. herbaria. Cheeseman (Man. N.Z. Fl. 1925, 950) places C. flaccida Ckn. as a synonym of his C. coriacea var. lancifolia which he describes as "Much smaller and more slender. Leaves smaller, 2-8 in. long, ?-1 in. broad, lanceolate, acute, subcoriaceous or almost flaccid. Scapes numerous. Heads 1-11/2 in. diam." He gives the distribution as: "Nelson--Mount Peel, abundant; mountains flanking the Wairau Valley, Clarence Valley, T.F.C.; Mount Lyell, W. Townson! Canterbury--Arthur's Pass, Cockayne!, T.F.C."
Kirk (Stud. Fl. 1899, 288) describes his var. ensata thus: " Var. ensata. Leaves 8 in.-12 in. long, 1/2 in. broad, ensiform from the tip of the sheath or sometimes lanceolate, acute, the pellicle on the upper surface sometimes 0. Scapes very slender, irregularly branched; bracts numerous, linear. Heads smaller. Approaching C. longifolia. I have only seen cultivated specimens of this form, and doubt its occurrence in the wild state. . . . Lake Harris, H. Matthews!" I have not seen specimens named by Kirk.
C. martini Buchan. in T.N.Z.I. 19, 1887, 213 was based on specimens collected on Mount Bonpland at 4000 ft. "Rhizome stout. Leaf sheaths 1/2 in. in diameter. Leaves 12 inches long, 1/2 in. broad, obscurely serrate, linear-oblong, and tapering to an acute point at top, narrowing near the bottom to 1 inch, then spreading downwards into a broad villous sheathing petiole; under-surface covered with closely appressed white or very pale-buff tomentum; central vein dark-purple, dividing near the bottom into nine dark-purple veins; back of leaf covered, when young, with a white silvery pellicle, which afterwards breaks away, exposing the dark-green leaf. Scape stout, scarcely longer than the leaves. Bracts few, narrow, linear, 4 inches long, diminishing in size upwards. Head nearly 2 inches in diameter. Florets numerous, long, narrow, linear." I have not seen specimens; Cheeseman (Man. N.Z. Fl. 1925, 950) places the name as an absolute synonym of C. coriacea, which can hardly be correct.
