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Manual of the New Zealand Flora.
19. Erechtites, Rafin
19. Erechtites, Rafin.
Erect annual or perennial herbs, cottony or glabrous. Leaves alternate, toothed or lobed or pinnately divided, rarely entire. Heads narrow, in terminal corymbs, heterogamous and discoid. Involucre cylindric; bracts in 1 series, linear, equal, appressed, sometimes with a few small ones at the base. Receptacle flat, naked. Female florets in 2–3 rows at the circumference, very slender, filiform, minutely 3–5-toothed. Disc-florets hermaphrodite, fewer in number than the females, tubular with a broad 5 - toothed mouth. Anthers obtuse at the base. Style-branches of the disc-florets elongated, truncate at the tip. Achenes linear-oblong, obtuse or contracted towards the apex, striate or angular. Pappus-hairs in many series, copious, soft, excessively slender.
A genus of about 15 species, mainly Australasian and South American; but one species is found in North America, and another in Java. Three of the New Zealand species extend to Australia and Tasmania; the remaining three are endemic.
page 364* Involucral bracts 8–10.
Glabrous or nearly so. Leaves membranous, usually regularly denticulate 1. E. prenanthoides. ** Involucral bracts 10–14.
Cottony or woolly. Leaves linear-oblong, lobed or pin-natifid 2. E. arguta. Scabrid with short white hairs. Leaves linear-oblong, lobed or pinnatifid 3. E. scaberula. White with cottony tomentum. Leaves linear-elongate, entire or minutely remotely toothed; margins revolute 4. E. quadriden-tata. Glabrous or nearly so. Leaves erect, lower oblong or linear-oblong, upper linear, entire or denticulate 5. E. diversifolia. Glabrous or nearly so. Leaves spreading, membranous, pirmatifid or pinnate with a large terminal segment 6. E. glabrescens.
| 1. | E. prenanthoides, D.G. Prodr. vi. 296.—A tall erect annual or biennial herb 1–4 ft. high, simple or branched above, glabrous or slightly hairy. Leaves rather distant, 2–6 in. long or more, linear-oblong to lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, acuminate, lower petiolate, upper sessile with broad toothed auricles, membranous, regularly or irregularly closely and finely denticulate, rarely lobed. Corymbs very large, terminal, 6–12 in. across or more; pedicels slender, ¼–⅓ in. long. Heads quite glabrous, ¼ in. long; involucral bracts 8–10, narrow - linear, green with white margins. Florets 18–22; females more numerous than the hermaphrodite. Achenes linear - oblong, grooved, hairy, surmounted by a callous ring surrounding the base of the pappus. — Hook, f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 141; Hanclb. N.Z. Fl. 156; Benth. Fl. Austral. iii. 658; Kirk, Students' Fl. 333. Senecio prenanthoides, A. Rich. Sert. Astrol. 96. S. heterophyllus, Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxvii. (1895) 389.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island, Chatham Island: From Ahipara and Mongonui southwards, but rare and local to the north of the Thames Valley. Sea-level to 3000 ft. October–January. Also in Australia and Tasmania. |
| 2. | E. arguta, D.C. Prodr. vi. 296.—A coarse erect annual herb 1–3 ft. high; stem stout, grooved, branched above, more or less cottony or woolly, rarely almost glabrous. Leaves 2–4 in. long, linear-oblong or lanceolate, acute or obtuse, lower usually contracted into a petiole, upper sessile with a broad toothed stemclasping base, coriaceous, coarsely and irregularly toothed or lobed or pinnatifid, lobes sinuate-dentate, upper surface glabrous or cobwebby, beneath more or less clothed with loose white cottony tomentum. Corymbs terminal, dense; pedicels slender, cottony. Heads ¼ in. long; involucral bracts 12–14, usually with a few minute ones at the base, narrow linear-lanceolate, woolly below. Florets 30–40; females much the most numerous. Achenes linear-page 365oblong, grooved, hairy, crowned by a callous ring.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 142; Handb. N.Z. Fl 157; Benth. Fl. Austral. iii. 659; Kirk, Students' Fl 334. Senecio argutus, A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 258; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 466; Raoul, Choix, 45.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island: Abundant from the Three Kings Islands and the North Cape southwards. Sea-level to 2500 ft. November–February. Also in Australia and Tasmania. A common plant, varying much in stature, degree of pubescence, and the extent to which the leaves are toothed or divided. |
| 3. | E. scaberula, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl 157.—A slender erect annual 1–2 ft. high; stem grooved, simple or branched above, rough with short white hispid hairs. Leaves 1–3 in. long, linear- oblong or lanceolate, acute or obtuse, lower petiolate, upper sessile with small stem-clasping auricles, coarsely and irregularly toothed or pinnatifid, lobes acute, again sharply toothed, both surfaces rough with short hispid hairs. Corymbs terminal, lax; pedicels slender, glabrous. Heads ¼ in. long; involucral bracts about 12, glabrous, subulate - lanceolate, acuminate, tips often recurved. Florets 20–30; females the more numerous. Achenes linear-oblong, grooved, hispid, crowned by a small callous ring.—Kirk, Students' Fl 334." E. hispidula, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 142 (not of D.C.). B. pumila, Armst. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xiii. (1881) 338. Senecio hispidulus, A.Cunn. Precur. n. 462 (not of A. Rich.).
North and South Islands, Stewart Island, Chatham Island: Not uncommon from the North Cape southwards. Sea-level to 1500 ft. November–February. |
| 4. | E. quadridentata, D.C. Prodr. vi. 295.—An erect herb 1–3 ft. high, usually much branched from a hard and woody base, everywhere more or less clothed with white cottony tomentum. Leaves 2–6 in. long, linear-elongate or linear-lanceolate, acuminate, lower sometimes petiolate, upper sessile, with or without small auricles at the base, entire or with a few distant teeth; margins re- volute. Corymbs terminal, broad, lax. Heads ⅓ in. long, involucral bracts 12–14, narrow linear - lanceolate, acuminate, glabrous or cottony, usually with a few minute ones at the base. Florets about 30, females the more numerous. Achenes linear-oblong, grooved and angled, hairy, abruptly contracted towards the tip, crowned by a callous ring.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 142; Handb. N.Z. FL 157; Benth. Fl. Austral. iii. 660; Kirk, Students' Fl 334. Senecio quadridentatus, Labill. Pl Nov. Holl. ii. 48, t. 194; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 461; Raoul, Choix, 45.
North and South Islands, Chatham Island: Abundant from the Three Kings Islands and the North Cape southwards. Sea-level to 3500 ft. November–January. Also in Australia and Tasmania. page 366 |
| 5. | E. diversifolia, Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xix. (1887) 324. —A slender erect annual herb 1–2½ ft. high. Stems grooved, glabrous or slightly cottony, simple or branched above. Leaves erect, 2–4 in. long; lower oblong or linear-oblong, narrowed into long petioles, obtuse, rather membranous, glabrous above, often puberulous beneath, entire or remotely and minutely denticulate; upper narrower, linear or linear-lanceolate, acute, sessile or nearly so, not auricled, glabrous or slightly cottony. Corymbs laxly and irregularly branched; pedicels slender, bracteate. Heads ¼ in. long; involucral bracts 12–14, linear-lanceolate, acute. Florets 30–40; females much the most numerous. Achenes linear-oblong, grooved, hispid, crowned with a callous ring.—Kirk, Students' Fl. 335.
North Island: Swamps at Karioi, base of Ruapehu, Petrie! South Island: Canterbury—Broken River Basin and Mount Cook, T. F. C. Otago— Common in the interior, Petrie! Bluff Hill, Enys. Stewart Island: Kirk. Sea-level to 3000 ft. December–January. Best distinguished by the almost glabrous habit and erect nearly entire membranous leaves. |
| 6. | E. glabrescens, T. Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. ix. (1878) 550.— A slender erect annual 1–3 ft. high; stem grooved, simple or branched above, glabrous or nearly so. Leaves very variable in size and shape, 3–6 in. long, oblong or lanceolate-oblong, deeply pinnatifid with the segments irregularly sinuate-dentate, or pinnate with a large terminal leaflet and few or many much smaller lateral ones, lower petiolate, upper sessile with broad toothed auricles, membranous, often purple beneath, glabrous or nearly so. Corymbs lax. Heads ⅓ in. long; involucral bracts 10–12, linear, acuminate, green with white margins. Florets 20–30; females the most numerous. Achenes longer than any other New Zealand species, in. ⅛–1/7 long, pale, linear, glabrous, obscurely grooved, attenuated above, crowned with a callous ring.—Students Fl 335.
North Island: Erewhon, Upper Rangitikei, Petrie! South Island, Stewart Island: Not uncommon in mountain districts throughout. Ascends to 4500 ft., descends to sea-level in Stewart Island. January–February. |