Xerochrysum bracteatum (Vent.) Tzvelev,

Collins, Timothy L., Schmidt-Lebuhn, Alexander N., Andrew, Rose L., Telford, Ian R. H. & Bruhl, Jeremy J., 2022, There’s gold in them thar hills! Morphology and molecules delimit species in Xerochrysum (Asteraceae; Gnaphalieae) and reveal many new taxa, Australian Systematic Botany 35 (2), pp. 120-185 : 151-152

Xerochrysum bracteatum (Vent.) Tzvelev, Novosti Sist. Vyssh. Rast. 27: 151 (1990)

Xeranthemum bracteatum Vent., Jard. Malmaison 1: 2, t. 2 (1803); Helichrysum bracteatum (Vent.) Andrews, Bot. Repos. 6: ad t. 428 (1805); Helichrysum chrysanthum Pers., Syn. Plant. 2(2): 414 (1807), nom. illeg., nom. superfl.; Helichrysum bracteatum (Vent.) Willd., Enum. Pl. 2: 869 (1809), isonym; Xeranthemum lucidum Maund, Bot. Gard. 2: 135 (1828), nom. illeg., nom. superfl.; Helichrysum bracteatum (Vent.) Andrews var. bracteatum, A.P. de Candolle, Prodr. 6: 189 (1838); Gnaphalium chrysanthum Sch.Bip., Bot. Zeitung 3: 171 (1845); Bracteantha bracteata (Vent.) Anderb. & Haegi, Op. Bot. 104: 102 (1991). Type citation: ‘originaire de la Nouvelle Hollande’ [Port Jackson, Australia]. Type: ex H. Malmaison, s. dat., E.-P.Ventenat s.n. (holo: G-DC G00341478*).

Helichrysum bracteatum var. chrysanthum DC., A.P. de Candolle, Prodr. 6: 189 (1838), nom. inval.

Argyrocome bracteata B.D.Jacks. , Index Kew. 1(1): 184 (1893) nom. inval., pro syn.

Helichrysum lucidum var. normalis F.Muell., Fragm. 11(89): 48 (1878) nom. inval.

Erect, annual or sometimes short-lived perennial (dependant on season), tap-rooted herb, 0.5–1.8 m tall. Stems and branches cobwebby, hirsute to pilose with septate trichomes, or glabrescent, and with glands; internode length 10–35 mm. Flowering stems branched, or unbranched (becoming branched with maturity, occasionally single-stemmed). Basal leaf rosette usually absent at flowering. Basal leaves elliptic to spathulate, 50–150 mm long, and 10–30 mm wide, base amplexicaul and attenuate, margin woolly to hirsute with septate trichomes, apex obtuse to apiculate; abaxial indumentum hispidulous with septate trichomes, and with glands; adaxial indumentum hispidulous with septate trichomes. Cauline leaves oblanceolate, 50–180 mm long, 5–25 mm wide, base attenuate and subamplexicaul, margin hispid with septate trichomes, apex acuminate to acute; abaxial indumentum with glands, midvein indumentum hispid with septate trichomes; adaxial indumentum hispidulous with septate trichomes and with glands. Foliaceous bracts subtending capitula ~ 8–10 mm long, margin hispid with septate trichomes. Capitula terminal, 30–50 mm wide, in panicles; outer phyllaries broad-ovate, yellow or brown, basal margin hispid, abaxial surface smooth, apex apiculate. Medial phyllaries oblong, narrow ovate or lanceolate, abaxially brown or yellow, apex cuspidate. Stylar appendages deltoid to acute. Cypsela oblong, ~ 2.2 mm long and 0.75 mm wide, cross-section squarish; pericarp grey–brown, idioblasts present. Pappus deciduous 5–6 mm long.

Distribution

Endemic to south-eastern New South Wales and far-eastern Victoria in the Sydney Basin, South East Corner, and South East Coastal Plain bioregions ( Fig. 22 ). Naturalised in Saint Helena and many countries owing to widespread cultivation ( Missouri Botanical Garden 2020).

Phenology

Recorded flowering in Australia August–February and fruiting December–February.

Habitat

Most commonly recorded from eucalypt woodland and forest on a wide variety of soils including ones derived from granite and basalt, from sea level to ~1000-m altitude. Common on roadsides where disturbance and water shed from the road may favour dispersal, germination and establishment.

Conservation status

Although there have been relatively few collections in the past few decades in the Hawkesbury–Nepean region, X. bracteatum has been collected from ~20 populations on the New South Wales South Coast in the past 30 years, including in conservation reserves. We recommend a status of ‘ Least Concern ’ ( IUCN 2019).

Notes

Xerochrysum bracteatum is illustrated in Fairley and Moore (1989), plate 1158 on page 317, as Helichrysum bracteatum , yellow paper daisy or golden everlasting.

Selected specimens examined

NEW SOUTH WALES: Central Tablelands: Mount Tomah, Lithgow Road , 25 Jan. 1959, B.R. Paterson s.n. ( CANB *) . Central Coast: The Oaks, on road to Penrith ( Silverdale Road ), 15 Dec. 2018, T.L. Collins 1005 ( CANB!, NE!, NSW!) ; Hopetoun Park, Panorama House Motel, Bulli Lookout , 7 Jan. 2019, T.L. Collins 1168 ( CANB!, NE!, NSW!) ; Mount Keira Road , 7 Jan. 2019, T.L. Collins 1169 ( CANB!, NE!, NSW!) . South Coast: Nowra Road ~ 4 km E of intersection with Gretas Road , 26 Jan. 2019, T.L. Collins 1174 ( CANB!, NE!, NSW!) ; Central Tilba, Paradise Hill , 27 Jan. 2019, T.L. Collins 1175 ( CANB!, NE!, NSW!) ; Gulaga National Park, Mount Dromedary Trail , 27 Jan. 2019, T.L. Collins 1177 ( CANB!, NE!, NSW!) ; Nullica State Forest, track to Nethercote Falls , 3 Feb. 2019, T.L. Collins 1181 ( CANB!, NE!, NSW!) . VICTORIA: East Gippsland: on track to summit of Mount Ellery , 22 Feb. 1984, D.E. Albrecht 212 ( AD, MEL!) ; Mount Elizabeth Nature Conservation Reserve , 26 Oct. 2019, J.J. Bruhl 3643, S. Dema, & H.T. Kennedy ( CANB!, MEL!, NE 109790 !, NSW!) .

Figures

Fig. 22. Distribution of Xerochrysum bracteatum.