Celmisia coriacea

Detailed description

Stout woody-based herb with branchlets arising from a multicipital stock, usually hidden; living leaves in large rosettes at the tips of branchlets, the whole plant forming an irregular sward-like patch; leaf sheaths densely imbricate and compacted, forming a pseudo-stem. Leaf lamina 160-400 x 25-55 mm, coriaceous, older leaves somewhat patent, lanceolate or occasionally oblong; upper surface sulcate, somewhat rugose in some plants, bronze-green with a conspicuous orange stripe along the midrib, pellicle bronze, obvious, and deciduous in old leaves; lower surface densely covered in glistening appressed tomentum, midrib prominent; tip acute; margins entire, often slightly revolute; base more or less cuneate, occasionally abruptly narrowed to the petiole. Petiole short. Sheath up to 130 x 40 mm, yellowish, clad in floccose white hairs. Scape densely clad in floccose white hairs, stout, up to 450 mm long; bracts several in upper half, erect, up to 80 mm long, strongly revolute; monocephalous. Ray florets 160-200, ligulate, the limb narrow-linear, white. Disc florets 200-250, 7-8 mm long, funneliform, yellow, tube with long eglandular biseriate hairs in lower half. Achene fusiform to obovoid, strongly grooved, 4.5-5.0 mm long, moderately to densely hairy; hairs short, appressed, bifid. Pappus unequal, up to 6 mm long, of c.30 barbellate bristles.