''Brachyscome dentata'', commonly known as lobe-seed daisy, is a tufted perennial herb in the family

Asteraceae The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...

and is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to Australia. It has mostly white or mauve daisy-like flowers, a yellow centre and pale green leaves. It is

to Australia.

Description

''Brachyscome dentata'' is an upright, perennial herb with branches up to high with leafy stems. The leaves and stems may have occasional to thickly covered woolly hairs. The lower leaves wither quickly, the upper leaves wedge shaped, mostly long, wide, 3 narrow, sharp lobes at the apex, sometimes deep margins or entire without a stalk. The single, white or occasionally mauve flowers are about in diameter on a peduncle long. The overlapping

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 lance-shaped, rounded or sharply pointed and jagged. The fruit is brown, dry, wedge shaped, flattened and long covered in short bristles. Flowering occurs in spring and summer.

Taxonomy and naming

The species was first formally described in 1830 by Charles Gaudichaud-Beaupré and the description was published in ''Voyage Autour du Monde ... sur les Corvettes de S.M. l'Uranie et la Physicienne. Botanique''. 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 ...

(''dentata'') is derived from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''dentatus'' meaning "toothed" with reference to the toothed margins.

Distribution and habitat

In Victoria it grows in southern districts to

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

, east to Barnawartha and west to

Wimmera The Wimmera is a region of the Australian state of Victoria. The district is located within parts of the Loddon Mallee and the Grampians regions; and covers the dryland farming area south of the range of Mallee scrub, east of the South Austral ...

, growing in a variety of habitats including grasslands on basalt, sandy loam in woodlands and heavy clay. In

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

it is a widespread species throughout the state in a variety of habitats, usually in floodplains. In

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

it is found growing in the Darling Downs.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15550431 dentata Flora of New South Wales Flora of Victoria (state) Flora of South Australia Flora of Queensland Plants described in 1830