''Leucochrysum albicans'', commonly known as hoary sunray,
is a 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 a small perennial with grey leaves, white or yellow flower-heads 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.
Description
''Leucochrysum albicans'' is an upright, tufted perennial to high. The leaves are linear to oblong or broadly egg-shaped, woolly, long, wide, light grey and crowded near the base of the stems. The flower heads in diameter, borne singly on a slim
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 outer
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 brown, inner bracts white or yellow in rows, triangular to narrow-elliptic shaped with a woolly lamina at the base. Flowering occurs in spring and summer and the fruit is an
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 and covered with feathery-like white bristles.
Taxonomy and naming
The species was first formally described by botanist
Allan Cunningham in 1825 in ''Geographical Memoirs on New South Wales'' and gave it the name ''Helichrysum albicans''.
In 1992
Paul Graham Wilson
Paul Graham Wilson (born 1928) is an Australian botanist. He has been a most prolific contributor to the journal ''Nuytsia'', contributing to the first issue in 1970 and to the 12th volume in 1998, which was dedicated to him for his contribution ...
changed the name to ''Leucochrysum albicans'' in the journal ''
Nuytsia
''Nuytsia floribunda'' is a hemiparasitic tree found in Western Australia. The species is known locally as moodjar and, more recently, the Christmas tree or Western Australian Christmas tree. The display of intensely bright flowers during the ...
''.
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 ...
(albicans) means "whitish".
In the same edition of the journal ''Nuytsia'', Wilson described three varieties and two subspecies, ''albicans'' and ''alpinum'' of ''L. albicans''.
In 2010
Neville Grant Walsh
Neville Grant Walsh (born 1956) has worked at the National Herbarium of Victoria from 1977.
Together with Don Foreman, he authored the first volume of ''Flora of Victoria'', authoring a further two with Timothy John Entwisle, Timothy Entwisle. wh ...
transferred
von Mueller's ''Helipterum incanum'' var. ''alpinum'' to ''Leucochrysum'' as ''
L. alpinum'' in the journal ''
Muelleria'', including ''L. leucochrysum'' subsp. ''alpinum'' as a
synonym
A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...
.
In a 2015 edition of ''Muelleria'', Walsh raised the rank of
de Candolle's ''Helipterum incanum'' var. ''tricolor'' to subspecies as ''L. albicans'' subsp. ''tricolor''.
The names of the two subspecies have been accepted by the
Australian Plant Census The Australian Plant Census (APC) provides an online interface to currently accepted, published, scientific names of the vascular flora of Australia, as one of the output interfaces of the national government Integrated Biodiversity Information Syst ...
:
* ''Leucochrysum albicans''
(A.Cunn.) Paul G.Wilson
Paul Graham Wilson (born 1928) is an Australian botanist. He has been a most prolific contributor to the journal ''Nuytsia'', contributing to the first issue in 1970 and to the 12th volume in 1998, which was dedicated to him for his contribution ...
subsp. ''albicans''
has yellow inner
involucral bracts.
* ''Leucochrysum albicans''
(DC.) N.G.Walsh subsp. ''tricolor''
has white inner involucral bracts.
Distribution and habitat
Hoary sunray is a widespread species found growing in moist, rocky alpine locations in woodlands and grasslands on nutrient poor soils in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania.
Subspecies ''tricolor'' mainly grows in grassland or grassy woodland at altitudes between about in
disjunct populations in Tasmania, Victoria and south-eastern New South Wales, although it has not been recorded this century in Victoria.
Conservation status
Subspecies ''tricolor'' is listed as "endangered" under the Australian Government ''
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'',
the New South Wales Government ''
Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016''
and the Victorian Government ''
Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988
The ''Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988'', also known as the ''FFG Act'', is an act of the Victorian Government designed to protect species, genetic material and habitats, to prevent extinction and allow maximum genetic diversity within the Au ...
''.
A National Recovery Plan has been prepared.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q6534103
Gnaphalieae
Flora of New South Wales
Flora of Queensland
Flora of Tasmania
Flora of Victoria (state)
Taxa named by Allan Cunningham (botanist)