''Calocephalus lacteus'', commonly known as milky beauty-heads, is a species of flowering plant 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 ...

. It is an ascending, spreading perennial with silver-grey leaves and cream globular-shaped flower heads. It occurs in eastern Australia.

Description

''Calocephalus lacteus'' is a perennial, ascending, spreading herb by means of rhizomes, high and forms a dense groundcover. The grey-green leaves are arranged opposite lower on the stem, alternate toward the apex,

obovate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...

to lance shaped, or almost linear, long, wide, short matted hairs, two lateral veins and midrib veins usually prominent. The globular flower is a dense cluster of 20-200 capitula in each compound head long, each containing 2-3 yellow florets enclosed by 9-16 white

bracts 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 ...

that are flat to

conduplicate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...

and long. The fruit is a cypsela with 6-11 bristles and fine hairs in the upper part. Flowering occurs mostly from November to March.

Taxonomy and naming

''Calocephalus lacteus'' was first formally described in 1832 by

Christian Friedrich Lessing Christian Friedrich Lessing (10 August 1809 – 13 March 1862) was a German botanist who was a native of Syców, Groß Wartenberg, Niederschlesien. He was a brother to painter Carl Friedrich Lessing (1808–1880), and a grandnephew of poet Gotthold ...

and the description was published in ''Synopsis Generum Compositarum''. The specific epithet (lacteus) means "milky", referring to the white bracts.

Distribution and habitat

Milky beauty-heads grows in low-lying occasionally wet and grassy situations in New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia.

References

Gnaphalieae Asterales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Victoria (state) Flora of South Australia Flora of Tasmania {{Australia-asterid-stub