''Actites'', commonly known as the dune thistle, beach thistle or coastal sow thistle, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. It is endemic to Australia and contains only one species, ''Actites megalocarpa'' . It is a large, clumping herb with yellow flowers.

Description

''Actites megalocarpus'' is a fleshy perennial

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

. The leaves are stiff, prominently veined, margins toothed and wavy, elliptic to oblanceolate shaped, long, wide, either tapering at the base or heart-shaped and sessile. The yellow dandelion-like flowers are in diameter, occasionally pale purple near the base, and on a

peduncle Peduncle may refer to: *Peduncle (botany), a stalk supporting an inflorescence, which is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed *Peduncle (anatomy), a stem, through which a mass of tissue is attached to a body **Peduncle (art ...

long. The

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

s are narrow-triangular shaped, the lower midrib of outer bracts has spines. Flowering occurs from September to June and the fruit is a compressed, light to dark brown one-seeded

achene An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not ope ...

, long with 3 longitudinal ribs.

Taxonomy and naming

''Actites megalocarpus'' was first formally described in 1976 by Nicholas Sean Lander and the description was published in '' Telopea''. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

(''megalocarpus'') means "large fruited".

Distribution and habitat

Dune thistle is usually found on coastal dunes and cliffs from

Toorbul Toorbul is a coastal town and a locality in the Moreton Bay Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Toorbul had a population of 930 people. Geography Toorbul is north of Brisbane. Toorbul is bounded on the east by Pumicestone Channel which se ...

in Queensland to

Middleton Beach Middleton may refer to: People *Middleton (name), list of notable people with surname of Middleton Places Australia * Middleton, Queensland *Middleton, South Australia *Middleton, Tasmania, on the D'Entrecasteaux Channel * Middleton Beach, Western ...

in Western Australia and the south-east coast of Tasmania.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q18340963, from2=Q4677444, from3=Q21399135 Flora of Victoria (Australia) Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Flora of Tasmania Eudicots of Western Australia Flora of South Australia Monotypic Asteraceae genera Plants described in 1976