Puath 97.—CELMISIA VISCOSA. 
FamrIty COMPOSIT &. | [Genus CELMISIA, Cass. 
Celmisia viscosa, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 133; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. 312. 
In several species of Celmisia the scapes, involucral bracts, and sometimes 
the leaves are slightly viscid: C. densiflora, C. discolor, and C. incana in par- 
ticular possessing this peculiarity. But in the subject of this plate the leaves 
and their sheaths, the scapes, and the involucral bracts are all strongly viscid, 
so that it is not an easy matter to prepare specimens for the herbarium with 
ordinary drying-paper. And quite apart from its viscidity, it is a very 
different species from those figured in the two preceding plates. The thick and 
coriaceous linear leaves with their numerous parallel grooves and broad brown 
glabrous sheaths, the stout pubescent scapes with their linear bracts, and the 
tomentose involucral bracts are well-marked characters. 
Celmisia viscosa was originally gathered by Sir Julius von Haast on Mount 
Torlesse, so well known from the commanding position that it occupies on the 
southern bank of the Waimakariri River, just before it leaves the mountains 
and emerges on to the Canterbury Plains. Some of Haast’s first botanical 
collections were formed in this -locality and in the adjoining Malvern Hills; so 
that in his “Geology of Camterbury and Westland” (p. 17) he says, “‘On the 
summit of these ranges and on the moving debris-slopes on their sides I made 
a rich harvest of particularly interesting plants, and when I mention that on 
Mount Torlesse alone I collected over two hundred flowering-plants, of which 
over thirty were new to science, it will easily be understood how great my 
delight was at being able to make such a remarkable addition to the alpine 
and subalpine flora of New Zealand.” Of course, the New Zealand botanist of 
to-day knows that the flora of Mount Torlesse, varied and interesting though 
it may be, is only part of one which has a wide distribution in the mountains 
of the South Island, and that very few species, if any, are peculiar to the 
mountain itself. 
Since the time of Haast’s explorations C. viscosa has been gathered in 
many localities on the eastern side of the Southern Alps, from the mountains 
flanking the Wairau Valley, Nelson, to the Takitimo Ranges, to the south-east 
of Lake Manapouri. But I am not aware that it has ever been found on the 
western side of the dividing-range; in fact, my own experience is that the 
plant is most commonly seen on the arid mountains to the east of the 
central chain of the Alps. To take an example, it is abundant on the eastern 
slopes of the Mount Dobson Range, near Lake Tekapo, in some places forming 
the chief part of the vegetation above a height of 3,000 ft. But I searched in 
vain for it in the Mount Cook district, with its much more copious rainfall, 
and if it occurs at all its distribution must be very restricted. 
C. viscosa is a somewhat isolated species, with no very close allies. It is 
probably best placed in the vicinity of C. Lyallii; which, however, has much 
longer and narrower more radiating leaves, almost pungent at the tips, and thus 
has a very different aspect. 
Pate 97. Celmisia viscosa, drawn from specimens collected on the slopes of Mount Dobson, 
Canterbury Alps, at an elevation of nearly 5,000 ft. Fig. 1, leaf with its sheath (natural size) ; 2, bracts 
of the involucre (x4); 3, ray-floret (x4); 4, disc-florets (x 4); 5, pappus-hair (enlarged) ; 
6, anthers (x 8); 7, style-arms (x 8). 
