mountain foxglove

Ourisia macrophylla plants are large perennial herbs. The stems are creeping, with opposite leaves that are tightly tufted along the horizontal stem. Leaf petioles are 4.3–225.0 mm long. Leaf blades are 10.4–160.0 mm long by 5.9–99.0 mm wide (length: width ratio 0.9–2.3: 1), usually narrowly ovate to broadly ovate, widest below the middle, with an acute or rounded apex; truncate, rounded, cuneate or cordate base; and crenate to crenate-serrate edges. Leaves are glabrous or with few hairs to densely hairy with non-glandular hairs on both surfaces, and punctate on the lower surface. Inflorescences are erect, with hairy racemes up to 64.8 cm long, and with 1–6 flowering nodes and up to 53 total flowers per raceme. Each flowering node has up to 12 flowers and 2–12 sessile and sometimes clasping bracts that are usually narrowly lanceolate to narrowly ovate. The lowest bracts are similar to the leaves, 10.4–78.9 mm long and 4.0–32.0 mm wide, and become smaller toward the apex of the raceme. The flowers are borne on a densely hairy pedicel that is up to 56.4 mm long and has glandular hairs and sometimes also non-glandular hairs only. The calyx is 3.6–10.0 mm long, regular, with all five lobes divided to the base, and with isolated to sparsely distributed hairs, which are usually a mixture of glandular and non-glandular hairs. …

Ourisia macrophylla is endemic to New Zealand. O. macrophylla subsp. macrophylla is found on the North Island (in Gisborne, Volcanic Plateau, Waikato, Taranaki, and southern North Island) and O. macrophylla subsp. lactea is found on the South Island (in Western Nelson, Marlborough, Canterbury, and Westland). This species is usually found below the bushline, in damp to wet sheltered areas in Nothofagus forest, near cliffs, tracks, streams or waterfalls, or sometimes just above bushline in partly shaded to open subalpine scrub or tussuck, from 210 to 1,800 m (690 to 5,910 ft) above sea level. It can be very locally common.

The life history of O. macrophylla was studied in detail by Marie Taylor for her MSc thesis.