Cassinia leptocephala
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Cassinia
Species:
C. leptocephala
Binomial name
Cassinia leptocephala

Cassinia leptocephala is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae and is endemic to New South Wales. It is a large, woody shrub with hairy, reddish stems, stiff linear leaves, and heads of pale yellow flowers arranged in a dense corymb.

Description

Cassinia leptocephala is a robust, woody shrub that typically grows to a height of up to 3 m (9.8 ft) and has reddish stems densely covered with yellowish glandular hairs. The leaves are stiff, linear, 50–80 mm (2.0–3.1 in) long and 1.0–2.5 mm (0.039–0.098 in) wide with the edges rolled under. The base of the leaves is stem-clasping and the lower surface is scaly and covered with glandular hairs. The flower heads are 2–5 mm (0.079–0.197 in) long and about 1 mm (0.039 in) wide, each with two or three pale yellow florets surrounded by three or four overlapping rows of involucral bracts. The heads are arranged in a dense corymb up to 120 mm (4.7 in) in diameter. The achenes are about 0.6 mm (0.024 in) long with a pappus about 2.5 mm (0.098 in) long.[2]

Taxonomy and naming

Cassinia leptocephala was first formally described in 1863 by Ferdinand von Mueller in Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae.[3][4]

In 2004, Anthony Edward Orchard described two subspecies in Australian Systematic Botany, and the names are accepted by the Australian Plant Census:

  • Cassinia leptocephala subsp. everettiae Orchard[5] has woolly involucral bracts;[2]
  • Cassinia leptocephala Orchard subsp. leptocephala[6] has more or less glabrous bracts.[2]

Distribution and habitat

This cassinia grows in forest, from the Sydney region to the New England National Park and west to the Warrumbungle Range in New South Wales.[2] Subspecies everettiae is restricted to the Warrumbungle Range.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "Cassinia leptocephala". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Cassinia leptocephala". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  3. ↑ "Cassinia leptocephala". Australian Plant Name Index. 19 June 2021.
  4. ↑ von Mueller, Ferdinand (1863). Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae. Melbourne: Victorian Government Printer. p. 138. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  5. ↑ "Cassinia leptocephala subsp. everettiae". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  6. ↑ "Cassinia leptocephala subsp. leptocephala". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  7. ↑ "Cassinia leptocephala subsp. everettiae". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
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