336 XXXIX. COMPOSITAE. [Senecio. 



1. B. repanda, Forst., Char. Gen. 46, /. 40. A shrub or small tree, 



8ft.— 20ft. high. Branches and petioles covered with soft white downy tomen- 



tum. Leaves IJin.— 6in. long, broadly ovate-oblong, sometimes cordate at the 



base ; margins sinuate or irregularly lobed, clothed with milk-white tomentum 



beneath; petioles lin.— Sin. long. Panicles usually terminal, exceeding the 



leaves, often drooping. Branches slender, with 1 or 2 angular leaves at the 



base. Heads excessively numerous, yin.— ^in. long, whitish ; involucral bracts 



oblong, shining. Florets 10—12. Female florets with the outer lip lobed or 



entire. — A. Cunn., Precurs. n. 463; Hook, f., Handbk. 163. Senecio Forsteri, 



Hook, f., Fl. N.Z. i. 148, t. 41. Cineraria repanda, G. Forst., Prod. n. 295; 



Willd., Sp. PI. iii. 2076 ; A. Rich., Fl. N.Z. 250. C. dealbata. Banks and Sol. 



MSS. and Icon. 



NORTH and SOUTH Islands : from the North Cape to the Kaikoura Mountains on the east 

 coast, and Greymouth on the west. Sea-level to 2,300ft. Pukapuka. Wharangi-tawhito (Bachan&n) . 

 Aug. to Oct. 



2. B. Rangiora, Buck, in Tram. N.Z.I, xiv. (1880) 357. A shrub,- 

 8ft.— 14ft. high, resembling B. repanda, but the branches are stouter and the 

 leaves larger. Leaves 6in.— 9in. long, more coriaceous and glossy, often unequal 

 at the base ; petiole stouter, 3in.— 5in. long. Panicles axillary and terminal, 

 usually with an entire ovate or oblong-ovate leaf at the base of the principal 

 branches. Involucres purple ; bracts opaque. Female florets with the outer 

 lobes always (?) entire. 



NORTH Island : Mokoia Island, Rotorua, H. B. Kirk ! Silver Greek, Wellington, H. B. 

 Kirk ! SOUTH Island : Westland, Hon. W. B. D. Mantell ! Rangiora. July to Sept. 



A much handsomer plant than the preceding, but scarcely satisfactory as a species. The late 

 Mr. Mantell, who had it under cultivation for many years, strenuously urged its claims to specific 

 rank, and was supported by Mr. Buchanan. I have seen leaves 12in. broad and 15in. long without 

 the petiole. 



22. SENECIO, Linn. 



Heads heterogamous and radiate or homogamous and discoid ; involucral 

 bracts nearly equal, in 1 or 2 rows, linear or ovate, herbaceous or coriaceous, 

 usually with a few small outer bracts at the base. Receptacle naked or pitted. 

 Outer florets female and ligulate, rarely sterile or 0. Disk-florets tubular, 

 hermaphrodite, 5-toothed. Anthers obtuse at the base or with very short tails. 

 Style-arms truncate, often shortly penicillate. Achenes terete, angular or 

 striate. Pappus-hairs in 1 or several series, smooth or scabrid. Herbs, shrubs, 

 or trees. Leaves alternate, entire toothed or pinnatifid. Heads terminal, 

 solitary corymbose or paniculate. Florets yellow, rarely white or purple. 



A large genus, comprising nearly 1,000 species, distributed through all countries, although 

 many of the species are remarkably local. The indigenous forms comprise some of the finest mem- 

 bers of the flora ; one extends to Australia, the others are endemic. Most of the herbaceous kinds 

 are extremely variable; and sometimes difficult to determine, but the ligneous species are easily 

 recognised. 



Name, from senex, " an old man,'' probably in allusion to the copious white hairs of the 

 pappus. 



