Flora of New Zealand Series

marguerite

Aromatic, much-branched, glabrous shrub up to c. 1 m tall, becoming distinctly woody toward base. Stems striate. Lvs glaucous to green, ovate, cuneately narrowed to winged petiole, 2-3-pinnatisect, up to c. 12 × 5 cm; segments all in one plane, very variable in width, from all similar and linear or subulate, to primary segments broad and pinnatisect to c. 1/2 way with narrow ultimate segments; uppermost cauline lvs smaller and sometimes 1-pinnatisect. Involucral bracts 5-15 mm long; margins membranous; at least the inner bracts with large apical flap. Capitula few to many in corymbs, or sometimes solitary, 20-50-(80) mm diam.; ray florets (8)-12-28; ligules usually white, rarely pink; disc florets numerous, yellow. Achenes pale brown, eglandular; achenes of ray florets 3-5 mm long, 3-(4)-angled, with 2-3 angles broadly winged and others narrowly winged, faces smooth or shallowly ribbed, and an irregularly lobed corona 1-1.5 mm long; achenes of disc florets 2-3 mm long, obconic, laterally flattened, mostly ± 4-angled with inner angle winged, surfaces smooth or ribbed, and an irregularly lobed corona up to 0.5 mm long; innermost achenes often ± terete, 10-ribbed, not winged.

N.: mouth of Wairau R. (Northland), Napier, Pukerua Bay, and Wellington City; S.: Nelson Province, coastal areas around the Port Hills (Christchurch), Otago Peninsula; St.: Halfmoon Bay.

Canary Is 1940

Coastal cliffs, roadsides and waste places.

FL Nov-Feb-(Oct).

A. frutescens is well established in several coastal areas which are free from heavy frosts (Plate 1). There is considerable variation in lf and capitulum characters even within one population, but it is clear that only one entity is naturalised and this originally as an escape from cultivation. Lvs vary in colour from glaucous to green, and in dissection from those with all segments linear to those with broad primary divisions. The diam. of the capitulum is also very variable, as is ray number, width and length (8-30 mm). All intermediate conditions are found. Fine-leaved and glaucous plants have been referred to in N.Z. as Chrysanthemum anethifolium, C. foeniculaceum, and Argyranthemum foeniculaceum. It has been suggested that plants with broad segments may be derived from hybridism with A. broussonetii, but their achene morphology conforms to that described for sect. Argyranthemum, and A. frutescens in particular, and shows no evidence of hybridism with A. broussenetii (Pers.) Humphries or other members of sect. Sphenismelia. A. frutescens is also very variable within the Canary Is (Humphries, loc. cit.).

A. frutescens has a long history of cultivation in N.Z. and many cvs have been developed including double forms, and forms with yellow or pink ligules. Most of these have arisen spontaneously from plants of A. frutescens in cultivation in N.Z. (R. Wilson, pers. comm.). All collections of naturalised plants are of single, white forms, with the exception of one collection from Nelson and one from Christchurch from plants with pink ligules.