388 COMPOSIT#S. [Sonchus. 
margins waved or crisped, spinous-toothed; lower ones petiolate, 
upper semi-amplexicaul with rounded auricles. Heads #-lin. 
diam., crowded in a short corymbose panicle, sometimes almost um-_ 
bellate. Involucre glabrous, bracts acute. Achenes oblong, com- 
pressed, longitudinally ribbed but not marked with transverse 
wrinkles or asperities.— Kirk, Students’ Fl. 362. 8. oleraceus 
var. B, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 153; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 166. 
Var. littoralis, Kirk im Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxvi. (1894) 265.—Often biennial 
or perennial. Stems rather stout, 1-2ft. high, sparingly branched; root thick 
and fleshy. Leaves mostly radical, spreading, 3-7in. long, linear-oblong or 
linear-obovate, obtuse or acute, finely or coarsely toothed, rather thick, almost. 
fleshy ; cauline leaves few, acute, amplexicaul. Outer involucral bracts obtuse, 
inner acute. Achenes longitudinally ribbed, glabrous.—Students' #1 362. 
NortH AND SoutH IsLANDs, STEWART IsLAND, CHATHAM IsLANDS: Abund- 
ant throughout, from the North Cape southwards; the variety littoralis con- 
fined to maritime cliffs. Sow-thistle; Rauroroa; Tawheke; Puwha. 
Flowers from spring to autumn. 
As this was collected by Banks and Solander it must be regarded as indi- 
genous. The variety littoralis is a very curious form, and may be entitled to 
rank as a species. 
2. S. oleraceus, Linn. Sp. Plant. 794.—A tall erect annual 
herb 2-3 it. high, glabrous or sparsely glandular above. Leaves 
lanceolate, entire or toothed or pinnatifid; margins flat or nearly 
so, not crisped ; lower ones petiolate, upper semi-amplexicaul with 
sagittate acute auricles. Heads #-lin. diam., crowded in a short 
corymbose panicle, often subumbellate. Involucres glabrous or 
shghtly cottony at the base, sometimes with a few glandular hairs. 
Achenes linear-oblong, compressed, longitudinally grooved and 
conspicuously transversely wrinkled.—S. oleraceus var. a, Hook. 
f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 153; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 166; Kirk, Students’ Fi. 
362. 
Kermapec Istanps, NortH aNnpD SovutH IsLAnps, Stewart ISLAND, 
CHATHAM Is~LANDS: Abundant throughout. Sow-thistle ; Pororua; Rawriki. 
Flowers from spring to autumn. Perhaps not truly native. 
i 
3. S. grandifolius, 7’. Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxvi. (1894) 266. 
—Rootstock stout, fleshy, creeping, sometimes 24in. diam. Stem 
tall, robust, succulent, corymbosely branched above, 2—5ft. high. 
Radical leaves 1-24 ft. long, 4-8in. broad; petioles 6-9in., stout, 
dilated at the base but not amplexicaul; blade oblong or ovate- 
oblong, irregularly pinnatifid or pinnate ; segments 4-6 pairs, broad, 
overlapping, coarsely doubly serrate or dentate, almost spinous- 
toothed, subcoriaceous, scabrid above, veins finely reticulate. 
Upper cauline leaves sessile by a broad base. Heads large, 1-14 in. 
diam.; pedicels clothed with white cottony wool. Involucral 
bracts in 3-4 series, broadest at the base, gradually tapering into. 
