Celmisia.] XXXIX. COMPOSITAE. 289 



narrow-linear, acute or very acuminate, silvery and furrowed or wrinkled above, 

 clothed with soft appressed tomentum beneath ; midrib distinct beneath ; 

 margins usually strongly revolute ; sheaths long or short, usually broader than 

 the blade, membranous, cottony or silky. Scapes equalling or exceeding the 

 leaves, slender or rather stout, hoary or cottony ; bracts few or many, linear. 

 Head Jin.— 1 Jin. broad; involucral bracts lanceolate-subulate, glabrate or the 

 outer cottony, often black at the tips. Rays scarcely spreading, usually 

 narrowed towards the apex. Achene glabrous, rarely puberulous or silky, 

 furrowed. — DC, Prod. v. 209; Hook, f., Handbk, 134; Benth., Fl. Austr. iii. 

 489. C. gracilenta, Hook, f., PI. Antarc. i. 35 (note) ; Fl. N.Z. i. 122 ; Fl. 

 Tasm. i. 181 ; Gaud, in Freyc. Voy. 470, t. 91. C. asteliaefolia, Hook, f., 

 Fl. Antarc. I.e. C. setacea, Col. in Trans. N.Z.I, xxi. (1888) 88. Aster cel- 

 misia, F. Muell., Fragm. v. 84. Aster gracilenta, Banks and Sol. MS. and Icon. 



Var. alplna. Rootstook woody, much branched. Branches very short. Leaves Jin.-ljin. 

 long, ^in.^ijiu. wide ; margins slightly recurved ; sheaths vfith a few scattered hairs. Scape strict, 

 2in. long. Involucral bracts glabrate, Achenes glabrous. In alpine bogs. 



The following forms depend largely upon situation and may be easily recognised, although 

 from their not being permanent they are not eligible for even varietal rank : — 



(1.) gracilenta. Usually solitary. Leaves slender, erect, soft. — Aster gracilenta, Banks and 

 Sol. MS. and loon. 



(2.) asteliaefolia. Leaves recurved, stouter, rigid ; margins very revolute. 



(3.) major. Leaves very long, Jin. -fin. broad, very acuminate ; margins much or slightly 

 recurved. 



(4.) graminifolia (sp,), Hook, f., PI. Antarc. i. 35 (in note). Leaves very slender, narrow, flat, 

 acute. Scapes very slender. — C. perpusilla, Gol. in Trans. N. Z.I. xxii. 470. 



NORTH Island : rare and local in the north ; Great Barrier Island, Bay of Islands, Manukau 

 Harbour. Common from the head of the Hauraki Gulf to STEWART Island. Sea-level to 5,500ft. 

 Dec. to Feb. Also in Australia. 



I am indebted to the Director of the Royal Gardens, Kew, for one of Cunningham's speci- 

 mens of C. graminifolia from the Bay of Islands. 



The most abundant species in the colony, and the most widely distributed, exhibiting a 

 wonderful range of variation ; gracilenta, the form figured by Banks and Solander, being the most 

 common. The broad-leaved forms approach O. Monroi, but the leaves differ from that species in 

 having longer and more acuminate leaves with more or less revolute margins. Var. alpina 

 approaches large forms of C. laricifolia. 



26. C. laricifolia, Hook, f., Fl. N.Z. ii. 831. Much branched at base. 



Branches lin.— 2in. long, densely leafy. Leaves crowded, linear, sessile, ^in.- 



liii. long, ^Q^n. broad, spreading or recurved, pungent, glabrate or glabrous and 



shining above or rarely cottony, clothed with silveiy or shining tomentum 



beneath. Scape filiform, very slender, 2iu.— 4in. long, glabrate or cottony ; 



bracts 1 or 2, very short. Head Jin. in diameter ; involucral bracts few, linear, 



subulate, cottony, purple. Rays few, short. Achene hispid. — Handbk. 135. 



SOUTH Island : Marlborough : Awatere and Mount Stokes, T. K. More frequent in the 

 mountains of Nelson, Westland, Canterbury, and Otago. 3,000ft. to 6,000ft. Dec, Jan. 



Cottony specimens from the Heaphy River have the leaves longitudinally furrowed above, 

 approaching C. longifolia. 



27. C. linearis, /. B. Armst. in Trans. N.Z.I, xiii. (1880) 337. Stem 

 sparingly branched. Branches short, rather stout. Leaves densely crowded. 



