Page:Native Flowers of New Zealand.djvu/79





finest known species of Buttercup, and one of the most magnificent plants native to New Zealand. The leaves are perfectly round, with the stalk affixed to the centre. They are often from one to two feet in diameter, and are concave on the upper surface, so as to somewhat resemble large soup-plates. The stem is often over four feet in height, and is usually much branched. The flowers are very numerous, pure white, and from two to three inches in diameter. It is confined to the South Island, and is purely an Alpine plant, being most abundant at an altitude of three thousand feet. In some of the valleys in the central portion of the Canterbury Alps it is exceedingly plentiful, and during the flowering season the slopes of the mountains are often whitened from the abundance of its blossoms. It flowers in January.

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