PLATE 99.—CELMISIA GLANDULOSA. 
Famity COMPOSIT &. ] [Genus CELMISIA, Cass. 
Celmisia glandulosa, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i, 124: Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. 318. 
Celmisia glandulosa was originally discovered by Mr. Colenso in 1847 
during an adventurous journey made into the interior of the North Island. 
At that time hardly anything was known of the central districts of the colony. 
The entire absence of roads, except the rough tracks used by the Native 
inhabitants, and a natural feeling of distrust as to the behaviour of the Maoris 
themselves, rendered most Europeans unwillnmg to undergo the certain labour 
and possible dangers of any expedition to a district remote from the sea-coast. 
In the journey alluded to Mr. Colenso, accompanied by a few Maori companions, 
travelled from Napier to Taupo, and thence to Lake Rotoaira and along the 
eastern base of Tongariro, Ngauruhoe, and Ruapehu. Reaching the Onetapu 
Desert, abreast of Ruapehu, he struck off to the south-east to the Moawhango 
River and the base of the Ruahine Mountains, which he was the first Kuropean 
to cross, and thus returned to Napier. Mr. Colenso hag given a remarkably 
interesting and vivid description of this expedition in his little-known pamphlet 
on “The Ruahine Mountain Range,” which after the lapse of more than 
. Sixty years is still well worth the perusal of any one interested in the natural 
history of the Dominion. 
At page 40 of this pamphlet Mr. Colenso Says, speaking of the Onetapu 
Desert, “On the edges of this lonely desert a lovely Gentiana flourished in all 
its beauty, probably G. pleurogynoides”” (see Plate 140 of this work, where it 
is figured under the name of G. bellidifolia), ‘also Celmisia spectabilis, most 
luxuriant in gloriously fine tufts or tussocks, and with it grew a much smaller 
and different-looking species of Celmisia (C. glandulosa) for the first time here 
found, and both species tolerably plentiful.” Since Mr. Colenso’s visit every 
botanist who has visited the central volcanic plateau of the North Island has 
observed C. glandulosa, and it has also been gathered on the adjoining 
Kaimanawa Ranges. Curiously enough, however, it has not yet been noticed 
on either the Ruahine or Tararua Mountains. In the South Island it is not 
uncommon in mountain districts from north-west Nelson to the south-west of 
Otago. It is most often seen at an altitude of about 3,000 ft., but it 
descends as low as 1,500 ft., and ascends to above 4,000 ft. 
In the South Island ©. glandulosa is almost invariably found in peaty 
swamps, and might fairly be classed as a bog-plant. But at the base of 
Tongariro and Ruapehu it is commonly found in situations which are certainly 
dry for most of the year, and at no period could be described as swamps or 
bogs. In the same district, however, the plant can be seen in peaty swamps 
exactly as in the South Island. It is not at all easy to account for the fact 
that on the volcanic plateau of the North Island the plant has apparently found 
a greater range of habitats suitable for its growth than on the mountains 
of the South Island, with their much more diversified climate and physical 
features. 
C. glandulosa is one of the most distinct species of the genus, and cannot 
possibly be confounded with any other. It may be recognized at a glance by 
the absence of the woolly tomentum so commonly present in the other species, 
which in this instance is replaced by a short and fine glandular pubescence. 
The creeping and rooting leafy stolons also constitute a prominent character, 
as also the acutely serrate or dentate leaves. 
Prats 99. Celmisia glandulosa, drawn from specimens collected near the base of Ngauruhoe, 
at an elevation of 4,000 ft. Fig. 1, portion of tip of leaf, showing the glandular pubescence and 
conspicuous$teeth (x 5); 2, bract from the involucre (x 4); 3, ray-floret (x 4); 4, dise-floret (x 4); 
5, pappus-hair (x 8); 6, anthers (x 8); 7, style-arms (x 8). 
