DAISY, DANDELION, AND THISTLE FAMILY 411 



Genus Vittadinia. 



Herbs, with a woody rhizome. Ray-florets numerous ; disk-florets fewer. 

 Achenes narrow, compressed, ribbed. Pappus unequal. A genus of about 

 thirteen species, chiefly natives of the Sandwich Islands. 1 sp. 



Vittadinia austral is (The Southern Vittadinia). 

 Stems 3 in. -10 in. high. Branches slender, leafy. Leaves J in.- in. long. 

 solitary, terminal. Ravs white. Fl. Oct. -Feb. 



Fit,'- 140. Olearia nummularifolia ($ nat. size)- 



Genus Olearia. 



Shrubs or trees. Leaves very hard, leathery, usually white or buff-coloured 

 on the under-surface. Heads terminal or axillary, varying much in size. 

 Florets usually numerous, 5-lobed. Anthers 5. Pappus of one or more rows of 

 nairs. Achenes ribbed. (Name from Olea, the Olive, in allusion to the shape of 

 the leaves, in some of the species). 35 sp. 



Distribution. This is a large New Zealand and Australian genus of shrubs 

 and trees. All the New -Zealand forms, however, are endemic, thus indicating 

 that the Australian species have long been separated from ours by the Tasman 

 Sea. Some of the most beautiful of the New Zealand shrubs belong to this 

 genus. As in most genera with many species, a great amount of variability 

 is found. Thus Dr. Cockayne* points out that in O. semidentata of the Chatham 



A Trans. XXXIV. p. 288. 



