Ozothamnus purpurascens de Candolle (1838: 165)

De Salas, Miguel F. & Schmidt-Lebuhn, Alexander N., 2018, Integrative approach resolves the taxonomy of the Ozothamnus ledifolius (Asteraceae: Gnaphaliae) species complex in Tasmania, Australia, Phytotaxa 358 (2), pp. 117-138 : 131

Ozothamnus purpurascens de Candolle (1838: 165) .

Type:— AUSTRALIA. Tasmania: “Western tier of mountains” [Great Western Tiers] R. C.Gunn 281 (holotype: G-DC G 00461399 [photo!]). See discussion for more information on its geographic origin.

≡ Helichrysum ledifolium subsp. purpurascens (DC.) Burbidge (1958: 270) .

≡ Helichrysum purpurascens (DC.) Curtis (1963: 334) .

Columnar to compact shrub to 1.5 m tall, with a corymbose branching habit. Stems and leaves covered in pale yellowish-green exudate, sometimes sweetly aromatic; older stems with persistent leaf bases; leaf density variable, moderately crowded. Leaves narrowed somewhat at the base, spreading, with older ones reflexed and often blackened; lamina linear to oblanceolate, widest near the apex, (3.9–)4.8–10.9(–13.1) mm long, (0.8–)0.9–1.7(–2.3) mm wide; adaxial surface mid-green, moderately lanate-tomentose, the tomentum obscured by greenish exudate in younger leaves, midrib sunken; abaxial surface densely cottony, often stained pale yellowish-green by resinous exudate with midrib darker, glabrescent; base tapering slightly in the wider-leaved forms only; margin entire, almost flat to slightly recurved, with abaxial lamina clearly visible; apex obtuse, rounded. Inflorescence a corymbose panicle, terminal, with branches tomentose, often stained yellowish-green; bracts ovate, resinous, tomentose, with margins laciniate and apex acute. Involucre variable, narrowly cylindrical to narrowly conical or campanulate, 4–5 mm long, (1.2–)1.5–2.3(–2.6) mm diameter, often suffused with pink; outer involucral bracts with scarious margins, lightly tomentose, viscid with pale yellowish-green exudate; inner involucral bracts 4–5 mm long, spathulate, with a long claw or petiole, and a spreading white lamina. Florets (4–)5–8(–9). Achenes papillose-pubescent; pappus barbellate, with ends somewhat clavate. Flowers Jan.–Feb.

Distribution and habitat:—On Jurassic dolerite along the northern and eastern escarpment of the Central Plateau of Tasmania, occasionally also along the western margin. Populations are also known from Triassic sandstone horizons below the dolerite boundary but these usually contain abundant dolerite talus.

Remarks:—Some Ozothamnus purpurascens populations intergrade with O. ericifolius , for example Moscal 689, and some specimens can be difficult to identify. While O. purpurascens groups with O. ericifolius consistently in analyses of genetic data, its type form is morphologically similar to O. ledifolius , from which it can be distinguished by its relatively flat leaves that have a pale yellowish-green exudate (rather than yellow) and a lower floret number per capitulum. We consider O. purpurascens to be of hybrid origin, with parentage likely to include O. ericifolius and O. ledifolius . Its modern distribution and morphology may represent historical introgression of the latter along the margins of the Plateau. The name Ozothamnus purpurascens DC. and the majority of its combinations have been consistently misapplied to south-eastern Tasmanian O. reflexus which is both genetically and morphologically distinct.

Selected specimens:— AUSTRALIA. Tasmania: Liffey Crossing, Projection Bluff , 20 Jan 1960, T. E. Burns 292 ( HO) ; Liffey Crossing, Projection Bluff , 20 Jan 1960, T. E. Burns s.n. ( CBG) ; 4-1/ 2 miles [7 km] from Cradle Mt., at Pencil Pine River , 13 Nov 1965, M. E. Phillips TAS 178 ( CBG) ; 5 miles [8 km] from Poatina on Western Tier , 06 Dec 1965, M. E. Phillips s.n. ( CBG) ; Poatina - Great Lake Road, 04 Jan 1966, T. E. Burns 646 ( HO) ; Sandstone escarpment above Poatina , 15 Jan 1969, T. E. Burns 715 ( HO) ; Top of Poatina , penstock pipeline, 01 Jan 1976, A. V. Ratkowsky s.n. ( HO) ; Poatina Penstock pipeline, top, 01 Jan 1976, D. A. Ratkowsky s.n. ( HO) ; Mt Victoria, 18 Apr 1980, M. G. Noble 29243 ( HO) ; Poatina Hill , at the last hair-pin bend, going up the road, 07 Jan 1981, A. M. Buchanan 428 ( HO) ; Flexmore Creek near Arthurs Lake , 16 Feb 1981, A. Moscal 689 ( HO) ; Billop Bluff. N of Arthurs Lake on Western Tiers, 16 Feb 1981, A. Moscal 637 ( HO) ; Drys Bluff , summit, 16 Feb 1981, A. Moscal 667 ( AD) ; Millers Bluff, Great Western Tiers , 20 Mar 1981, A. Moscal 746 ( HO); (Mount) Rufus Canal Road , 07 Dec 1982, A. Moscal 1159 ( MEL) ; Douglas Creek, Old Pelion Hut (copper mine), 25 Jan 1983, A. Moscal 1485 ( HO) ; Drys Bluff , 14 Dec 1984, A. M. Buchanan 4992 ( HO) ; Mt Young , in pine plantation, 19 Dec 1984, W. F. Pataczek 700 ( HO) ; Mt Albert , 13 Mar 1985, M. J. Brown 851 ( HO) ; 1 km W of Warners Track , 14 Feb 1986, A. Moscal 12259 ( HO) ; Quamby Bluff , upper N slope, 2 km SW of Golden Valley, 06 Mar 1986, A. Moscal 12570 ( HO) ; Nells Bluff , 14 Mar 1986, A. Moscal 12730 ( HO) ; Drys Bluff , 31 Mar 1986, A. Moscal 12819 ( HO) ; Western Tiers, Quamby Bluff , c. 1 km north-east of summit, 12 Feb 1989, N. G. Walsh 2270 ( CBG) ; Mount Blackwood , 22 Mar 1989, A. Moscal 17358 ( MEL) ; Millers Bluff , 27 Feb 1990, A. Moscal 18931 ( HO) ; Western Creek track, Western Tiers , 15km S of Mole Creek, 14 Jan 1991, P. A. Collier 5139 ( HO) ; Parson and Clerk Mtn , 29 Mar 1991, P. A. Collier 5189 ( HO) ; Pine Lake , 23 Jan 1993, C. F. Puttock 27 ( CANB) ; Poatina Road , 27 Jan 2014, M. F. de Salas 520 ( HO) ; M. F. de Salas 521 ( HO) ; M. F. de Salas 524 ( HO) ; M. F. de Salas 526 ( HO) ; M. F. de Salas 527 ( HO) ; M. F. de Salas 528 ( HO) ; Needles Station , s.d., [unknown] 4784 ( NSW) ; Western Mountains (Great Western Tiers, above Formosa ), s.d., R. W. Lawrence 290 ( HO) ; Near Drys Bluff , May 1997, H. Staubmann s.n. ( CANB) .