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, dais>-like flowers, 

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



Fig. 14-2. Olearia Forsteri (i 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 2in.-3iu. long, liin.-2|in. 

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

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

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

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



Olearia nitida (The Shining Olearia.) 



Leaves less leathery than in 0. furfuracea, and more ovate in shape ; very 

 silvery below. Heads i in.-i in. long, numerous. Florets 16-20. Both 

 islands. Fl. Deo. -Jan. A bush plant. 



