Cotula. | COMPOSITH#. 359 
4-2 in. long, linear-obovate or spathulate, obtuse, crenate-serrate or 
lobulate or semipinnatifid, often deeply pinnatifid or pinnate at the 
base, lobes or segments entire or the upper margins more or less 
deeply toothed or incised. Peduncles axillary, longer or shorter 
than the leaves, naked, pubescent. Heads unisexual; males 1-1in. 
diam. ; involucral bracts few, in 2 series, oblong - orbicular, pu- 
bescent, with broad purple scarious margins. Florets numerous, 
eglandular, funnel-shaped. Female heads larger, }-1in. diam. or 
more; inyolucral bracts more numerous, imbricated in 8 or 4 series, 
incurved. Florets many; corolla ovoid-conie, inflated at the base, 
narrowed and minutely toothed at the mouth. Achene obovoid, 
curved, rounded at the back.—Kuirk, Students’ Fl. 328. Leptinella 
dioica, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 129. 
NorrH AND SourH Isnanps, Stewart Istanp: Not uncommon from the 
Great Barrier Island and the Kaipara Harbour southwards; most plentiful near 
the sea, but ascending to 3000 ft. November—February. 
A most puzzling plant, exceedingly variable in the size of the leaves and the 
extent to which they are toothed or divided, and also varying much in the size 
of the flower-heads, Mr. Kirk divided it into three species; but these are 
clearly connected by intermediate forms, and cannot always be distinguished by 
the descriptions he has given. The following are the chief varieties, but it 
must be borne in mind that the characters used to separate them are purely 
arbitrary. 
Var. a.—Leaves 1-2in., obovate-spathulate, membranous, flaccid, toothed 
or lobulate above, pinnatifid below, segments entire or toothed. Abundant. 
Var. crenatifolia, Kirk, Students’ Fl.—Leaves 3-3 in., oblong-spathulate, 
membranous, crenate-toothed, with a few deeper divisions at the base of the 
leaf. Mountain swamps in the South Island. 
Var. rotundata.—More robust, hairy. Leaves 4-1} in., orbicular-spathu- 
late, toothed above, usually lobulate or pinnatifid below.—Cliffs between the 
Manukau and Kaipara Harbours, “’. #’. C.; East Coast, Colenso ! 
Var. pulchella.—Slender. Leaves 4-23 in., linear-oblong or linear-obovate, 
membranous but firm, pinnatifid, often pinnate at the base. Often difficult to 
separate from var. a, but leaves usually narrower and more deeply divided.— 
C. pulchella, Kirk, Students’ Fl. 328. Swamps in the South Island, Stewart 
Island. 
Var. obscura. — Very small, #-lin. long. Leaves few, 4-4in., oblong- 
lanceolate or linear-oblong, lobed or pinnatifid, lobes 3 or 4 on each side. 
Heads small, 4-4 in. diam.—C. obscura, Kirk, l.c. 327. Swamps at Woodend, 
Southland, Kirk ! 
17. CENTIPEDA, Lou. 
Annual or perennial herbs. Leaves alternate, entire or coarsely - 
toothed. Heads small, sessile on the branches or racemose, hetero- 
gamous and discoid. Involucre hemispherical ; bracts in 2 series, 
subequal, margins scarious. Receptacle flat or convex, naked. 
Female florets exterior, in several rows, fertile; corolla minute, 
tubular, obscurely lobed. Disc-florets few, hermaphrodite, cam- 
