DAISY, DANDELION, AND THISTLE FAMILY 



415 



This is a straggling plant growing in the crevices of the 

 rocky banks of the Clarence, Conway, and several other rivers. 

 The leaves are white underneath, and a beautiful glossy green 

 shines through the greyish bloom of the upper surface. The 

 white involucral bracts are in a large series of rings, and form 

 a cup-like envelope to the flower, similar in shape to that of 

 the Scotch thistle. The large, beautiful, daisy-like flowers, 

 with their ragged white rays, seem strangely out of place in 



Fig. 142. Olearia Forsteri (J nat. size). 



the blaze of the sun on the dry, burning, rocky walls of some 

 river gorge. 



Olearia furfuracea (The Bran-like Olearia). 



A shrub or tree, 6 ft. -20 ft. in height. Leaves 2 in. -3 in. long, 1| in. -2^ in. 

 broad, obtuse, rarely acute, margins often unequal at the base, silvery below. 

 Branches velvety, twigs grooved. Corymbs large, loose. Heads in. long ; 

 florets 8-12. Ray-florets white ; pappus white. Achene slightly hairy, angled. 

 North Island : Auckland, Taranaki, Mokau River. Fl. Sept. -Oct. A bush plant. 



Olearia nitida (The Shining Olearia). 



Leaves less leathery than in O. furfuracea, and more ovate in shape ; very 

 silvery below. Heads & in.-! m - lon g> numerous. Florets 16-20. Both 

 islands. Fl. Dec. -Jan. Outskirts of the bush. 



