Celmisia spectabilis

Celmisia spectabilis is one of the more widespread species in the mountainous areas of New Zealand, where it is commonly known as the cotton daisy.[1] Belonging to the family Asteraceae, this species has leathery leaves that are ovate to lanceolate or narrowly oblong, and can reach 30 cm long. They have a shiny, green upper surface, with prominent parallel grooves, but their undersides are densely covered in soft, whitish or buff-coloured hairs. The leaf bases overlap and compact to form a stout pseudostem. Plants can form mats up to 2 m across.

Celmisia spectabilis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Celmisia
Species:
C. spectabilis
Binomial name
Celmisia spectabilis

The flower stems reach 30 cm tall and are densely covered with white hairs. A showy solitary flower head, 3–5 cm across, is borne at the end of each stem. The numerous ray florets are white and the disc florets yellow.[2]

History

Joseph Hooker described it in 1844, in the first volume of his Flora Antarctica. The specimens he studied were collected by the English botanist John Bidwill in 1839 on Mt Tongariro, on New Zealand's North Island.

Ecology

Celmisia spectabilis has many pollinators. Some examples include Melangyna novaezelandiae and Leioproctus.[3]

References
  1. Kew Royal Botanic Gardens
  2. Kew Royal Botanic Gardens
  3. Primack, Richard B. (1983-07-01). "Insect pollination in the New Zealand mountain flora". New Zealand Journal of Botany. 21 (3): 317–333. doi:10.1080/0028825X.1983.10428561. ISSN 0028-825X.
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