Kingdom: Plantae
(Unranked): Angiosperms
(Unranked): Eudicots
(Unranked): Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Tribe: Senecioneae
Genus: Brachyglottis
Species: B. huntii
Binomial name: Brachyglottis huntii
Synonym: Senecio huntii
Common names: Pitt Island Christmas tree, Rautini, Chatham Island Christmas tree,
Brachyglottis huntii is a large tree daisy that grows up to 8 m tall. Is it grows well on moist, peaty soils. It is found on stream sides and ridge crests in forests, shrubland and drier swamps on the Chatham Islands.
It is numbers are now restricted on Chatham Island itself, but is still widespread on Pitt Island. Its conservation status is ‘nationally critical’, due to habitat destruction, which includes browsing and trampling by cattle, sheep, pigs and possums.
The bark is flaky and the leaves are 70-180 mm long and 20-40 mm wide. They densely clad in downy hairs, giving the whole plant a silvery hue.
It produces brilliant yellow globes of florets in summer, these set as dense masses of wind-dispersed seed.
For more information visit http://nzpcn.org.nz/flora_details.asp?ID=52
A tree after flowering, seed heads developing photographing early March.
This juvenile Brachyglottis huntii was photographed at Otari Native Botanic Garden and Wilton's Bush Reserve. Wellington.
The surface of a leaf
The under surface of a leaf
Thanks to Wikipedia for text and information http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
