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Haastia:

The genus Haastia is endemic to New Zealand with all species strictly alpine. They are part of the daisy family.  There are three recognised species plus possibly another species from the Eyre mountains. The Genus is famous for the two varieties of H. pulvinaris which are commonly known as vegetable sheep. H. pulvinaris forms very large cushions (up to 2 m across in the case of var. pulvinaris) these seen from a distance look like sheep. The other vegetable sheep are in the genus Raoulia.  They are all easily identified, being very distinct. The only confusion could be between the two varieties of pulvinaris. var. pulvinaris is yellow or golden in a appearance and bigger in all its parts than var. minor, var. minor is more green in appearance its hairs are shorter so that the individual leaves are more obvious.

H. sinclairii also has two varieties, var. fulvida is a buff or dull yellow colour while var. sinclairii is a  greener colour. The hairs are thicker in low rainfall regions. H. sinclairii branches creep through scree with the upper portions upright. Hasstia recurva is a Canterbury endemic and probably has the most restricted distribution. recurva has a similar habit to sinclairii but forms tighter patches.  I am not sure of the current status of the Eyre mountain form but it looks related to sinclairii except that it is much tighter in appearance. It may also be related to H. recurva.

Growing Haastia is not so easy but if you are lucky enough to have an alpine
house then you should have no difficulty. The seed germinates easily but it dislikes winter rain and damping off often occurs. Its best grown in pots with a very high gravel content mix. Trichoderma will also help.