Flora of New Zealand Series

Mount Cook lily

Tufted perennial; rhizome stout. Stems erect, glabrous or sparsely hairy below, 30-120 cm tall. Lvs simple, fleshy, crenate, glabrous or nearly so; basal lvs peltate, orbicular, (5)-10-40 cm diam.; upper lvs truncate or cordate and amplexicaul, smaller than basal. Fls 5-15 per stem, 5-8 cm diam.; pedicels hairy. Sepals spreading, hairy. Petals 10-16, white, cuneate-obovate; nectary single, (1)-2-4 mm from petal base, naked. Receptacle hairy. Achenes very numerous, not flattened, hairy; body 2-3 mm long; beak straight or curved, 3-5 mm long.

N.: known from 1 plant only on Mt Ruapehu, probably introduced there; S.: Westland, W. Canterbury, W. Otago, Fiordland; St.

Endemic.

Streamsides and wet subalpine to alpine scrub and grassland, (450)-600-1500 m.

Fisher (1965, op. cit.) gives details of variation, a fuller description and illustrations.