''Streptoglossa adscendens'', commonly known as desert daisy, 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 ...

and grows in all mainland states of Australia with the exception of Victoria. It is a ground cover, upright or ascending perennial or annual herb with purple or pink flowers.

Description

''Streptoglossa adscendens'' is a short-lived, leafy, many branched perennial or prostrate herb to high with faintly aromatic, glandular leaves and upright stems covered in soft, thin hairs. The leaves are oblong to lance shaped, rarely spoon shaped, long, wide, narrowing gradually at the base, margins smooth or toothed and ending in a point. The flowers are borne on a short peduncle or almost

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

usually in clusters near the apex of leafy branches, consisting of 20-40 pink florets,

involucre 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 ...

long, enclosed by a distinctive whorl of 3 or 4 leaves long,

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 purplish or green, smooth or with soft hairs. Flowering occurs from March to October and the fruit is dry, one-seeded, ribbed, long and densely covered with silky, flattened hairs.

Taxonomy and naming

''Streptoglossa adscendens'' was first described

George Bentham George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studi ...

in ''

Flora Australiensis ''Flora Australiensis: a description of the plants of the Australian Territory'', more commonly referred to as ''Flora Australiensis'', and also known by its standard abbreviation ''Fl. Austral.'', is a seven-volume flora of Australia published be ...

'' as ''Pterigeron adscendens''. In 1981

Clyde Robert Dunlop Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a to ...

changed the name to ''Streptoglossa adscendens'' and the description was published in ''

Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Garden The Adelaide Botanic Garden is a public garden at the north-east corner of the Adelaide city centre, in the Adelaide Park Lands. It encompasses a fenced garden on North Terrace (between Lot Fourteen, the site of the old Royal Adelaide Hospital ...

''. 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 ...

(''adscendens'') means "ascending".

Distribution and habitat

Desert daisy grows in a variety of habitats including granite hills and the edges of salt lakes in rocky, clay soils in all Australian mainland states other than Victoria.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15554445 Asterales of Australia Flora of the Northern Territory Flora of South Australia Flora of Western Australia Flora of Queensland adscendens