Tas. 7084. 
OLEARIA tnstants. 
Native of New Zealand. 
f 
Nat. Ord. Compostrm.—Tribe AsTEROIDER. 
Genus Orraris, Mench. ; (Benth. et Hook.f. Gen. Pl. vol. ii. p. 276.) 
OLEaRIA insignis ; frutex robustus, ramulis crassis petiolis foliis subtus pedun- 
culisque dense niveo- v. rufo-tomentosis, foliis petiolatis ecrasse coriaceis 
oblongis obovatisve obtusis basi cuneatis v. subcordatis supra demum glaber- 
rimis nitidis, pedunculis elongatis crassis monocephalis, involucri subglobosi 
tomentosi bracteis numerosissimis dense imbricatis subulato-lanceolatis exte- 
rioribus obtusis, intimis apicibus acerosis recurvis, floribus radii numerosis, 
ligulis 2-3-seriatis 3-dentatis, pappi setis rufis equilongis scabridis apicibus 
subclavellatis, acheniis gracilibus dense sericeis. 
O. insignis, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. vol. ii. p. 331; Handb. of New Zeald. Flora 
p. 125; Lhe Garden, vo). xxxiv. p. 534, t. 678. 
The genus Olearia, including Hurybia, represents, to- 
gether with the scarcely distinguishable Celmisia, in 
_ Australia and New Zealand, the Asters of the north tem- 
perate regions and the Felicias of South Africa; and 
except by the terete achenes of Olearia and its shrubby 
or even arboreous habit, it is difficult to distinguish it 
botanically from Aster. Of all the many species of Olearia, 
however, none departs so widely from Aster as does the 
one here figured, which in its great ovoid involucre with 
the bracts in very many series, and its uniseriate pappus 
of perfectly equal hairs, rather clubbed at the tip, departs 
a good deal from the typical Olearias. It belongs to the 
group Hriotriche of the genus, in which the hairs are 
neither stellate nor fixed by the middle, but from a matted 
mass of wool. 
O. insignis is a native of rocky river banks in the north 
part of the Middle Island, as in the province of Nelson, 
where it was discovered by Captain D. Rough about 1850. 
_ It has also been gathered on the banks of the Warrau river 
_ in the north-east part of the same island, occurring from the 
sea-level to 5000 feet elevation. The specimen figured 
was presented by that most excellent horticulturist and 
JANUARY Ist, 1889. 
