302 XXXIX. COMPOSITAE. [Raoiilia. 



1. R. australis, Hook, f., Fl. N.Z. i. 135. Densely tufted. Stems 

 prostrate^ lin.— 4iii. long^ giving off numerous short erect branches lin. high or 

 less. Leaves densely or laxly ilnbricatej spathulate^ erect or recurved, y-'^in.- 

 ^in. long, rounded at the apex, usually clothed on both surfaces with silky 

 appressed tomentum. Heads Jgin.-iin. long ; outer involucral bracts spathu- 

 late, tomentose ; inner linear, scarious with membranous margins, rarely with 

 dark tips. Florets about 12-18, the hermaphrodite disk-florets fewer than the 

 outer female or very rarely equalling them. Achene angled, glabrate or 

 glabrous. Pappus-hairs numerous, slightly pilose, not thickened at the tips. — 

 Handbk. 148 ; Raoul, Choix. t. 15. R. McKayi, Buch. in Trans. N.Z.I, xiv. 

 354, t. 34. 



Var. albo-sevicea (sp.), Col. in Trans. N.Z.I, xx. (1887) 195. Leaves linear-spathulafce or 

 rotund. Florets few, 6-8. 



Var. apice-nlgra (sp.), T. Kirk in Trans. N.Z.I, xi. 164. Leaves excessively vfooUy. Outer 

 involucral bracts black at the tips. 



Var. lutescens. Stems short, often forming compact masses. Leaves ^Jigin.-j^in. long, 

 densely imbricating. Heads small ; involucral rays yellow. Florets very short. 



NOETH Island : from the East Gape to Cook Strait, but often local. SOUTH Island : from 

 Nelson to Poveaux Strait. STEWART Island: Mason Bay, very rare, T..K. Sea-level to fully 

 .5,000ft. Dec, Jan. 



Extremely variable in habit, but very constant in its floral characters. The preponderance of 

 female florets shows a close relationship to Gnaphalium. The gradual transition of the apical leaves 

 into involucral bracts is very instructive. Some forms of var. apice-nigra approach R. Monroi, but 

 the leaves are never linear. 



2. R. tenuicaulis, Hook. /., Fl. N.Z. i. •]35, t. 36a. Stems laxly tufted, 

 slender, lin.— lOin. long, prostrate, creeping, much branched, branches ascend- 

 ing. Leaves spreading or loosely imbricating, sometimes recurved, yVi'^- io^^g^ 

 concave above, linear-oblong, acuminate or in the autumn often obovate-spathu- 

 late, apiculate, glabrate, pubescent or densely clothed on both surfaces with 

 cinereous tomentum. Heads oblong, jj'oi'^- io'^g; sessile, tubular ; involucral 

 bracts in 3 series, the inner linear- oblong, with obtuse brown tips. Florets 

 12—18; outer, female, predominating. Disk-florets tubular, 5-toothed. Achenes 

 glabrate or puberulous. — Handbk. 148. 



NOETH and SOUTH Islands : from the Thames Goldfield to Southland ; chiefly in river-beds. 

 Sea-level to 2,000ft. Nov. to Jan. 



Var. puBilla. Glabrous in all its parts ; much branched. Branches Jin. -Jin. high, the latter 

 including the head. Leaves on sterile shoots ^in.-jijin. long, linear, concave, acute or subacute, 

 patent ; on flowering shoots shorter, with broad membranous bases. Female florets filiform, twice 

 as many as those of the disk. NORTH Island : forming broad mossy patches on the Rimutaka 

 Range. Nov. 



The only species with strongly-marked dimorphic leaves. 



3. R. Haastii, Hook. /., Handbk. 148. Glabrous or nearly so, densely 

 tufted. Stems much branched, rather stout, prostrate. Branches ^in.— lin. 

 high. Leaves coriaceous, densely imbricate, y^-in. long, erect patent, broadly 

 ovate-subulate, sheathing at the base, obtuse, rarely with a fe^Y loose hairs but 

 never cottony or silky. Head sessile amongst the apical leaves, ^in.-iin. long; 

 involucral bracts few, in 2 series ; the inner linear-oblong, scarious, not radi- 



