Ozothamnus leptophyllus

TAXONOMIC NOTES

The name Ozothamnus leptophyllus (formally Cassinia leptophylla) is used by Wilson & Galloway (1993) to cover all forms of Cassinia in New Zealand. Historically several forms had been given names at species level, and although some of these might be worthy of recognition as subspecies or varieties, there is no good evidence that the diverse populations represent more than one variable species (Webb et al. 1988). In the Canterbury/ Westland region, eastern forms from drier habitats tend to have more slender branchlets, narrower, more pointed leaves, and yellower or orange-yellow tomentum. They have been called C. fulvida. Further west, and at higher altitudes in eastern districts. The branchlets tend to be stouter, the leaves broader and more rounded at the tips, and the tomentum paler yellow. They have been called C. vauvilliersii, a widespread common form in the North Island and the northern end of the South Island has white tomentum and small, narrow leaves 2-4 mm long; the whole bush looks greyish white rather than green from a distance. This is C. leptophylla in the narrow sense. It has gone locally wild in a few places in Canterbury such as on the Port Hills where it is escaping from cultivation. Wild forms approaching it lap into Canterbury from the north. Rarely, white forms crop up as single or a few plants in the middle of C. vauvilliersii-like populations, although the leaves are larger than in the more northern white populations of typical C. leptophylla.