Authors:
Low rosettes of olive-green to silvery white stiff linear leaves about 1.5cm long are crowded to form loose cushions, rather like a coarser development of C. argentea. Flowerheads stemless, resting on the rosettes, to 2.5cm in diameter. Alpine localities throughout South Island. A good trough or pan plant, but shy flowering and resents drying out. Very variable, the best forms coming from central Canterbury (e.g. 'Mt. Potts form') and having neat silver leaves and small tidy flowerheads. [Pl.100] C. similis Given. Similar to C. laricifolia, but with broader leaves (to 2mm wide) which are silvery above, and with a reddish flower stem. Described from northwest Nelson in 1969. Rare in cultivation, probably only in New Zealand but a promising trough plant.
