#scabweed

Also known as Psychrophyton, meaning 'cold plant'.

A genus of paper daisy endemic to New Zealand, most often in alpine areas, that grows into dense tussocks. In some species the mounds are large enough that they're known as 'vegetable sheep'.

Named after Étienne Fiacre Louis Raoul (1815–1852), a French naval surgeon and naturalist and author of Choix de plantes de la Nouvelle-Zélande (“Selected plants of New Zealand”) The genus was named after him by Joseph Hooker. subsericea means 'rather silky'.

Mat-forming paper daisies, also known as scabweeds, that grow abundantly on eroding soil with little other vegetation, in mountainous areas in the rainshadow of the Southern Alps. Quite common in tussock grasslands. You might note, however, that it's being crowded out by the plant with the larger leaves - see the next numbered post to find out why that's a problem.

AKA Raoulia lutescens.

Another Raoulia species, one of several found in the Cromwell Chafer Beetle Reserve, that forms densely packed low-lying mats, as a protection against the droughts of Central Otago. Doesn't protect it against being eaten by the beetles. Or from invasive weeds, coastal erosion, or irrigation.

The flowers are yellow, and the plant does quite well in rockeries with excellent drainage.