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Introductory notes

The genus Clemisia

Celmisia is a genus of daisies with most species in New Zealand and a few in Australia. In New Zealand they are found only on the main islands (North Island, South Island, and Stewart Island) but a closely related genus, Damnamenia, is found on Auckland and Campbell Islands. Celmisia is also closely related to Macrolearia (Saldivia 2022).

Celmisia as a genus differs from all other New Zealand daisies by the following features:

  • There is a single flower-head at the top of each scape.
  • Flower-heads have yellow disk florets and white ray florets (occasionally slightly pink or yellow).
  • Non-glandular hairs are present on leaves and flowering stem and often densely matted on the lower leaf surface.
  • Glandular hairs are present in half of the species.
  • Leaves on flowering scape are much smaller than normal stem leaves.
  • The base of the stem leaves distinctly ensheath the stem; the sheath is often purple.
  • The leaf petiole is often indistinct and when present is wide.

Hybrids

Hybrids are common in Celmisia.  A list of the most common hybrids, ranked by number of specimens in the Allan Herbarium is presented here with numbers of specimens following the name. The other parent in C. sessiliflora hybrids is often not possible to guess at, but in a few cases C. traversii and C. armstrongii have been named as the other parent.

Celmisia sessiliflora hybrids 43
Celmisia x pseudolyallii (C. lyallii x C. spectabilis) 33
Celmisia gracilenta x C. spectabilis 25
Celmisia spectabilis x C. traversii x 25
Celmisia traversii x C. verbascifolia 23
Celmisia lyallii x C. verbascifolia 15
Celmsia semicordata x C. verbascifolia 13
Celmisia densiflora x C. prorepens 12
Celmisia haastii x C. hectorii  8
Celmisia lyallii x C. semicordata 7
Celmisia armstrongii x C. similis 7

Bibliography

Allan H.H. 1961: Flora of New Zealand. Vol. I, Wellington, Government Printer.

Given D.R. 1969b: Taxonomic notes on the genus Celmisia (Compositae). New Zealand Journal of Botany 7: 389–399.

Given D.R. 1969: A synopsis of infrageneric categories in Celmisia (Asteraceae – Compositae). New Zealand Journal of Botany 7: 400–418.

Given D.R. 1971: Two new species of Celmisia Cass. (Compositae-Astereae). New Zealand Journal of Botany 9: 526–532.

Given D.R. 1980: A taxonomic revision of Celmisia coriacea (Forst.f.) Hook.f. and its immediate allies (Astereae-Compositae). New Zealand Journal of Botany 18: 127–140.

Given, D.R. 1984. A taxonomic revision of Celmisia subgenus Pelliculatae section Petiolatae (Compositae–Astereae). New Zealand Journal of Botany 22: 139–158.

Gosden, J. 2024. Mountain daisies.  A guide to Celmisia in Aotearoa/New Zealand.  Manuka Press in cooperation with Caxton Press.

Lee W.G., Given D.R. 1984: Celmisia spedenii G. Simpson, an ultramafic endemic, and Celmisia markii, sp. nov., from southern New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 22: 585–592.

Saldivia P, Wagstaff SJ, Breitwieser I, Orlovich DA, Lord JM 2022. A generic taxonomic synopsis of the Pleurophyllum clade (Asteraceae: Astereae: Celmisiinae) with the recognition of the New Zealand endemic new genus Macrolearia.Systematic Botany 47(2): 607–634.
Saldivia, P. 2024. Taxonomic revision of Celmisia subg. Lignosae s. lato (Asteraceae: Astereae), with an overview of the genus. Phytoneuron 2024-27: 1–130.