1016 COMPOSITAE. [ Senecio. 
Sok 204 Wn. SB VWs! wud, 
9. §. lautusaForst. f. Prodr. (1786) 91.—An exceedingly variable 
much or sparingly branched glabrous or pubescent annual or biennial herb 
6-24in. high; stems stout or slender, erect or decumbent or almost 
prostrate, grooved, flexuose. Leaves 1-2 in. long, linear or linear-lanceolate, 
mere rarely broader and lanceolate or linear-oblong to oblong, either nar- 
rowed into a petiole or dilated with stem-clasping auricles at the base, entire 
or remotely toothed or lobed or pinnatifid ; lobes narrow or broad. Heads 
in few- or many-flowered corymbs, 4—-?1n. diam., campanulate ; involucral 
bracts herbaceous, linear, acute, pubescent at the tips, usually prominently 
2-ribbed ; outer bracts few, small. Ray-florets 10-15, with spreading or 
revolute ligules, rarely absent. Disc-florets numerous, scarcely longer than 
the involucre. Achenes linear, grooved, pubescent or nearly glabrous. 
Pappus-hairs copious, soft, white-—A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. (1832) 257 ; 
A. Ounn. Precur. (1838) n. 457; Raoul Chore (1846) 45; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. 
Zel. i (1853) 145 ; Handb. N.Z. Fl. (1864) 160; Benth. Fl. Ausiral. ii (1866) 
667; TZ. Kirk Students’ Fl. (1899) 341; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fil. (1906) 
373. §. neglectus A. Rich. lc. 258. 8S. angustifolius Forst. f. Prodr. 
(1786) 91. 
KermMapec Istanps, NortTH AND SoutH IsLanps, STeEwarT IstanpD: Abundant 
near the sea, not so common inland. Sea-level to 4500 ft. October—March. 
This is a widely diffused plant in Australia and Tasmania as well as New Zealand, 
and is everywhere exceedingly variable, not a few forms having been described as 
distinct species. The chief varieties found in New Zealand may be briefly characterized 
as follows, but it must be borne in mind that intermediates are not uncommon :— 
Var. a.—Much branched, erect or decumbent. Leaves deeply pinnatifid ; segments 
long and narrow, often again tocthed, rarely short and broad. Heads 4-4in. diam., 
radiate. Usually near the coast, but occasionally found inland. Mr. Kirk’s variety 
carnosulus is probably a form of this. 
Var. montanus.—Sparingly branched or quite simple, erect. Leaves oblong to 
lanceolate or spathulate, entire or toothed or shortly pinnatifid. Heads $—? in. diam., 
radiate ; rays often revolute. A common mountain-plant in both the North and South 
Islands. = 
Var. discoideus.—Sparingly branched, prostrate or decumbent, rarely erect. Leaves 
very fleshy, obovate or spathulate, coarsely toothed or lobed, sometimes pinnatifid 
below. Heads large, $—-?in. diam.; rays wanting. Mountain districts in the South. 
island. a 
10. S. radiolatus F. Muell. Veg. Chath. Is. (1864) 24, t. 4.—Stems stout, 
erect or decumbent at the base, glabrescent or almost hispid in old specimens, 
branches grooved, Lower leaves membranous, broadly cuneate-ovate in 
outline, narrowed into slender petioles, toothed, lobed or pmnatifid ; lobes” 
obtuse, pubescent beneath. Upper leaves sessile, auricled at the base, 
entire below the middle, toothed, lobed or pinnatifid above, teeth acute; 
under-surface of leaves often with cobwebby pubescence. Inflorescence 
terminal, corymbose; heads numerous, 4in. long, cylindric or narrow- 
campanulate ; involucral bracts linear or linear-lanceolate, glabrous or 
pubescent at the tips. Rays short, broad. Achenes oblong-lanceolate, 
excessively mucilaginous when placed in warm water.—S. lautus var. 
radiolatus 7. Kirk Students’ Fl. (1899) 341; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 
OTA, | 
CuaTHAM IsLANDS: Sandy places near the beach, H. H. Travers! F. A. D. Cox 
and Cockayne ! 
Very close to S. lautus, but perhaps sufficiently distinct to be kept up as a separate 
species. 
