''Podotheca angustifolia'', commonly known as sticky longheads, is a species of herb native to

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 ...

Description

An annual herb with yellow flowers, ''P. angustifolia'' grows in a range of habits, from trailing along the ground to erect; when erect if can reach up to 30 centimetres in height, but is usually no more than 20 centimetres. It has a swollen, almost

succulent In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...

stem, and a slender woody

taproot A taproot is a large, central, and dominant root from which other roots sprout laterally. Typically a taproot is somewhat straight and very thick, is tapering in shape, and grows directly downward. In some plants, such as the carrot, the taproo ...

. It is sticky due to secretions from its glandular hairs.

Taxonomy

This species was first published by

Jacques Labillardière Jacques-Julien Houtou de Labillardière (28 October 1755 – 8 January 1834) was a French biologist noted for his descriptions of the flora of Australia. Labillardière was a member of a voyage in search of the Jean-François de Galaup, comte ...

in his 1806 ''

Novae Hollandiae plantarum specimen ''Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen'' is a two-volume work describing the flora of Australia. Facsimiles of the originals can be found in the onlinBiodiversity Heritage Library (Vol.1)anVol 2) The author was the French botanist Jacques Labillar ...

'', under the name ''Podosperma angustifolia''. In 1826,

Alexandre Henri Gabriel de Cassini Count Alexandre Henri Gabriel de Cassini (9 May 1781 – 23 April 1832) was a French botanist and natural history, naturalist, who specialised in the sunflower family (Asteraceae) (then known as family Compositae). He was the youngest of five chi ...

transferred it into '' Phaenopoda'', but this was overturned six years later 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 ...

, who placed it in ''

Podotheca ''Podotheca'' is a genus of flowering plants in the tribe Gnaphalieae within the family Asteraceae. All species are endemic to Western Australia, except for '' Podotheca angustifolia'' which occurs across the south of Australia (Western Australia ...

''.

Distribution and habitat

It occurs in southern parts of Australia. It has been recorded from

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

but is now presumed extinct there.

References

External links

''Podotheca angustifolia'' Occurrence data from the Australasian Virtual Herbarium
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7207079 Asterales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Victoria (Australia) Eudicots of Western Australia Flora of South Australia Taxa named by Jacques Labillardière angustifolia