Kingdom: Plantae
(Unranked): Angiosperms
(Unranked): Eudicots
(Unranked): Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Tribe: Astereae
Genus: Pachystegia
Species: P. insignis
Binomial name: Pachystegia minor
Synonyms: Olearia insignis var. minor, Pachystegia insignis var. minor,
Common name: Marlborough Daisy.
Pachystegia minor is a native daisy endemic from Clarence to Puhipuhi Rivers, South Marlborough. It habitat is coastal and inland lowland, usually confined to steep rocky or stony sites, rock faces and slopes.
It is a small and slender spreading shrub, less than 1m tall. Leaves are diamond-shaped or blunt-ended 6.5-10cm long, 2.5-4cm wide, with a thin layer of felted hair on the back.
The flower heads are white (December to February), they are >3.5cm in diameter and the flower stalks are slender, sometimes leafy, about 10cm long. Fruiting occurs from February to April.
Similar taxa is Pachystegia insignis. Leaves of P. minor are much smaller and more slender, with a thinner layer of felted hair. It has smaller, slender-stalked flowers, opening slightly later than other Pachystegia species.
Photographed February at Orari Wilton Native Gardens.
Photographed at Te Kainga Marire Gardens at Spencer Place, January.
The topside of a leaf
.
The undersurface of a leaf showing the white tomentum.
Thanks to Wikipedia for text and information http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
