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Volume 66, 1937
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Species of Celmisia Hitherto confused with Celmisia Sinclairii.

The numerous forms of Celmisia commonly regarded by New Zealand botanists as C. Sinclairii are without exception most distinct from that species as now restricted; and, indeed, most are distinct from either form preserved at Kew. Numerous jordanons thus excluded have a glabrous or glabrate, green upper leaf-surface, and closely appressed dull or silky tomentum on the lower surface bisected by a prominent, usually glabrous midrib. Many of these belong to the compound species described below under the name Celmisia Du Rietzii.

A study of the various herbaria and plant collections in New Zealand makes it clear that jordanons of the following species have commonly been confused with Celmisia Sinclairii:—

(1)

Celmisia Allanii Martin.
(2)

Celmisia Cockayniana Petrie.
(3)

Celmisia discolor Hook. f.
(4)

Celmisia Du Rietzii Ckn. et Allan (spec. nov.)
(5)

Celmisia incana Hook. f.
(6)

Celmisia spp. (Undescribed).
(1)

Celmisia Allanii.

Hooker's Dun Mt. plant which I am excluding from the conception of C. Sinclairii is, in the opinion of Dr. Allan, who has examined it, conspecific with plants collected by himself, by W. Townson, by F. G. Gibbs, and by myself in the North-western and Sounds-Nelson Botanical Districts, but which have hitherto been catalogued as forms of Celmisia incana. These I have recently (Martin, 1935, p. 181–2) described as jordanons of Celmisia Allanii. In selecting as the type of this species a plant collected on Mt. Lockett by Mr F. G. Gibbs, I was guided by the opinion of Dr. Allan that of all specimens he had seen it most nearly matched the Dun Mt. plant discovered by Sinclair. The subsequent discovery by me in the Dominion Museum herbarium of a plant from Dun Mt. itself which closely matches Dr. Allan's tracing of the Kew specimen from the same locality, forces me to refer this latter plant to Celmisia Allanii var. canescens rather than to C. Allanii itself. All forms of Celmisia Allanii are tomentose on both surfaces, but on being dried the leaves in the case of var. canescens acquire a marked glabrous appearance on the upper surface. From C. incana this species is distinguished by the fewer, relatively narrower, longer leaves. The typical form has its involucral bracts more conspicuously reflexed than the typical form of C. incana, and altogether it possesses a very distinct appearance.
(2)

Celmisia Cockayniana.

This is a valid species of easy discrimination, distinguished from all forms of C. Du Rietzii by the foliaceous bracts. Its position may be regarded as intermediate between Celmisia hieracifolia and C. Du Rietzii. Hitherto this plant has been known only from Dr Cockayne's original plants gathered on Mt. Fyffe; nevertheless, it is a common

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endemic of the eastern and central portions of the North-eastern Botanical District. For further notes on this common rupestral species see Martin (1935, pp. 176–7).
(3)

Celmisia discolor.

The typical form of this compound species is that which occurs commonly on the St. Arnaud Mts. A better understanding of this and all related forms is now possible consequent on recent field-work and an examination of the types preserved at Kew, and it is improbable that C. discolor will again be confused with C. Sinclairii or C. Allanii; but it remains a matter of some difficulty to say to which species some jordanons belong, which seem to link C. discolor on the one hand with C. Du Rietzii, C. angustifolia, and allied species on the other. From C. Du Rietzii it differs mainly in the smaller size of the leaves which grow at intervals along the stems, whereas in C. Du Rietzii, C. Sinclairii, and C. Allanii the living leaves are normally tufted at the ends of the stems. The length-to-breadth ratio rarely exceeds 2 in C. discolor, but in the case of the others it is rarely less than 3.
(4)

Celmisia Du Rietzii.

This is a compound species comprising numerous jordanons, and ranges throughout the full length of the South Island. It seems certain that in any subsequent revision of the genus this species will be sub-divided into a number of smaller groups each with specific or varietal rank. At present it includes by far the greater number of forms previously listed as C. Sinclairii. All have this in common that they are glabrous or glabrate above and white below. The midrib is usually glabrous and distinct and the tomentum thin and silky, and closely appressed to the leaf. As their specimens clearly show, what both Kirk and Cheeseman had in mind in their published descriptions of C. Sinclairii was undoubtedly that group of plants referred to by Dr. L. Cockayne in the 2nd Edition of his Vegetation of New Zealand under the nomen nudum of Celmisia Du Rietzii (1928, pp. 287–8), which name I propose to adopt for an extensive series of forms incorporated by both Kirk and Cheeseman in their conception of C. Sinclairii. A description of Celmisia Du Rietzii Ckn. et Allan is given below:—

Suffrutex perennis. Caules ad basem ramosi, primo plerumque prostrati demum erecti vel ascendentes, relinquiis vaginarum foliorumque demortuorum persistentibus vestitae. Folia prope apicum ramorum conferta, submembranacea, in petiolum angustam sensim attenuata, denique in vaginam tenuem membranaceam ampliata. Lamina ± 5 cm. longa, ± 1 cm. lata, anguste obovato-spathulata vel elliptico-spathulata, subacuta vel obtusa, minute et obscure dentata, superne glabra vel glabrata, subtus dense et appressa albotomentosa; costa media glabra, conspicua.

Scapi singulares vel plures, plerumque glabri ± 20 cm. longi; bractae circ. 8—9, inferior tomentosae, superior glabratae. Capitulum circ. 3—4 cm. diam. Involucrae bractae numerosae, recurvae. Achenia sericea.
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South Island.—Type from Arthur's Pass; collected by me and deposited in the Plant Research Station, Palmerston North. In a broad sense this species is met with on the mountains of the western half of the South Island throughout most of its length.
(5)

Celmisia incana.

It has been customary to include in this species all Celmisias of fell-field having both leaf-surfaces clothed with soft, snow-white or silvery tomentum. The North Island plants to which the name was originally given have furrowed, serrulate leaves with a length-to-breadth ratio of from 2–2 ½, but many of the South Island jordanons have a ratio of from 4–6. Hence it has been found advisable to relegate the long-leafed forms to a distinct group to which the name C. Allanii has been given (Martin, 1935, p. 181), and to classify the remaining jordanons into distinct varieties of C. incana. In both species some forms have the tomentum of the upper leaf-surface very thin. When these leaves are-wetted or when they are pressed they not infrequently appear to be glabrous on the upper surface. In this condition varieties of C. Allanii might easily be confused with C. Du Rietzii.
(6)

Celmisia spp.

A study of plants collected on the mountains of western Otago points to the existence of several Celmisias specifically distinct from Celmisia Sinclairii, to which they have been referred, and from C. Du Rietzii, to which they must at present be referred. Much more field-work in this area would be necessary, however, before the writer could attempt their separation and description.
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