Family: Asteraceae
Angianthus preissianus
Citation:
Benth., Fl. Aust. 3:566 (1867).
Synonymy: Skirrhophorus preissianus Steetz in Lehm., Pl. Preiss. 1:439 (1845); Styloncerus preissianus (Steetz)Kuntze, Rev. Gen. Pl. 367 (1891); Skirrhophorus eriocephalus Hook. f. ex A. Gray, Hooker's J. Bot. Kew Gard. Misc. 3:148 (1851); A. eriocephalus (Hook. f. ex A. Gray)Benth., Fl. Aust. 3:567 (1867).
, Skirrophorus eriocephalus, Skirrophorus preissianus Common name: Common cup-flower, salt angianthus.
Description:
Annual herb 1-8 cm high; stems usually several from the base, simple or fewbranched, prostrate to erect, up to 16 cm long, glabrous or hairy; leaves opposite and alternate, herbaceous to semisucculent, narrowly elliptical to linear and subterete, mucronate, 0.5-1 cm long, 1-2 mm wide, subglabrous to densely cobwebby.
Compound heads subglobular, 4-8 mm diam., with 5-100 capitula; common involucral bracts c. 15, the outer leaf-like ones 5-10 mm long, often exceeding the inflorescence, more or less tomentose; bracts subtending capitula solitary or 2 overlapping, obovate to oblong, 1.5-2.5 mm long, whitish, glabrous or hairy near the apex; capitular involucral bracts 1.6-2.3 mm long, whitish, with midribs hairy near the apex, the inner pair gradually attenuate near the base, with a wing-like extension between the florets on the inner side: corolla funnel-shaped, more or less swollen at the base, usually 3-toothed, rarely 4- or 5-toothed, 0.9-1.4 mm long.
Achene obovoid, 0.5-0.8 mm long; pappus absent.
Published illustration:
Cochrane et al. (1968) Flowers and plants of Victoria, fig. 197.
Distribution:
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Occurs on saline, usually sandy, soils in a variety of coastal habitats including the edges of salt marshes among Salicornieae.
S.Aust.: EP, MU, YP, SL, KI, SE. W.Aust.; Vic.; Tas.
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Conservation status:
native
Flowering time: Sept. — Dec.
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SA Distribution Map based
on current data relating to
specimens held in the
State Herbarium of South Australia
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Biology:
A. preissianus is variable in habit, leaf size and shape, and degree of succulence, these variations being at least partly environmentally determined. The name A. eriocephalus was fomerly applied to the smaller, more erect variants of this species.
Author:
Not yet available
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