Haastia recurva var. recurva
Haastia is a small genus of remarkable and distinctive plants all endemic to New Zealand. Commonly called Vegetable Sheep because of their growth habit of large whitish grey masses clinging to steep rocky mountain sides and large rocks resembling a sheep even when from a short distance let alone quite far away.
This species is more of a subshrub with stems up to 25cm long creating loose patches up to about 50cm across. The leaves are about 1.5cm long and 1 cm across covered with long yellowish to reddish brown hairs. These may vary in colour on the same plant depending giving it a somewhat dirty look at times.
Flowers are quite small and remain partially hidden in the hairy tip.
It makes a fantastic sight on the scree slopes and seems to colonise in the more stable areas on the edges of the scree. New young plants pop up in the scree and look really nice and fresh and exciting to find.
It is found on the drier greywacke mountains of the South Island – Marlborough, Canterbury south to the Waimakariri Basin.
This species is more of a subshrub with stems up to 25cm long creating loose patches up to about 50cm across. The leaves are about 1.5cm long and 1 cm across covered with long yellowish to reddish brown hairs. These may vary in colour on the same plant depending giving it a somewhat dirty look at times.
Flowers are quite small and remain partially hidden in the hairy tip.
It makes a fantastic sight on the scree slopes and seems to colonise in the more stable areas on the edges of the scree. New young plants pop up in the scree and look really nice and fresh and exciting to find.
It is found on the drier greywacke mountains of the South Island – Marlborough, Canterbury south to the Waimakariri Basin.