''Craspedia variabilis'', commonly known as billy buttons, is an erect annual or perennial herb which occurs in all mainland states of
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
except for the
Northern Territory and in a wide range of habitats in temperate zones but not in alpine areas.
Description
''Craspedia variabilis'' grows to a height of 10–60 cm, with one to five flower spikes surrounded by a rosette of leaves, with more leaves scattered along the flower spike. Each leaf is spoon-shaped, about 5–13 cm long and 5–20 mm wide. The leaves are pale to olive-green and the flower spike straw-coloured to reddish and both leaves and flower spike are hairy. It has thick, spreading woolly roots and broad, reddish, overlapping leaf-bases which are retained at the base of the flower spike. The flowers, which appear from early spring to early summer, form a hemispherical head of about 40-100 small, golden-yellow individual small flowers, each with a short stalk.
Taxonomy and naming
Following a review of the genus ''Craspedia'',
Joy Everett
The word joy refers to the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune, and is typically associated with feelings of intense, long lasting happiness.
Dictionary definitions
Dictionary definitions of joy typically include a sense of ...
and
Andrew Doust named ''C. variabilis'' as a new species, along with ''
C. paludicola'', ''
C. canens'' and ''
C. haplorrhiza''. They describe ''C. variabilis'' as "a complex species with several forms, some of which may be separable on further work". 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 ...
(''variabilis'') refers to the number of different forms across its wide distribution.
Distribution and habitat
''Craspedia variabilis'' is found in a wide variety of habitats but never alpine.
In Western Australia it grows on seasonally wet flats, granite outcrops, slopes
and in the
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
region its distribution is described as "widespread in open forests and grassland".
Use in horticulture
Billy buttons can be propagated from seed and grown in full sun. It grows in any soil provided that it is not too wet. It can be treated as an annual and used effectively as a single specimen or as a massed bedding plant.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15563304
Gnaphalieae
Flora of Australia
Plants described in 1992