Actites Explained

Actites, commonly known as the dune thistle, beach thistle or coastal sow thistle,^[1] is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. It is endemic to Australia and contains only one species, Actites megalocarpa . It is a large, clumping herb with yellow flowers.

Description

Actites megalocarpus is a fleshy perennial herb. The leaves are stiff, prominently veined, margins toothed and wavy, elliptic to oblanceolate shaped, long, wide, either tapering at the base or heart-shaped and sessile. The yellow dandelion-like flowers are in diameter, occasionally pale purple near the base, and on a peduncle long. The bracts are narrow-triangular shaped, the lower midrib of outer bracts has spines. Flowering occurs from September to June and the fruit is a compressed, light to dark brown one-seeded achene, long with 3 longitudinal ribs.^{[1] [2]}

Taxonomy and naming

Actites megalocarpus was first formally described in 1976 by Nicholas Sean Lander and the description was published in Telopea.^{[3] [4]} The specific epithet (megalocarpus) means "large fruited".^[5]

Distribution and habitat

Dune thistle is usually found on coastal dunes and cliffs from Toorbul in Queensland to Middleton Beach in Western Australia and the south-east coast of Tasmania.^{[2] [6] [7]}

Notes and References

1. Web site: Dune Thistle . https://archive.today/20121127141904/http://vro.dpi.vic.gov.au/dpi/vro/vrosite.nsf/pages/sip_dune_thistle . dead . 2012-11-27 . 2012-05-24 . Victorian Resources Online . Department of Primary Industries, Victoria . 2011-05-26 .
2. Book: Thompson . I.R. . Wilson, Annette . Flora of Australia-Volume 37 . 2015 . CSIRO . Canberra . 9781486304165 . 122.
3. Web site: Lander . Nicholas . Actites megalocarpus . Australian Plant Name Index . 1 September 2021.
4. Lander . Nicholas . Actites megalocarpus . Telopea . 1976 . 1 . 2 . 130 . 1 September 2021.
5. Book: Sharr . Francis Aubi . George . Alex . Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings . 2019 . Four Gables Press . Kardinya, WA . 9780958034180 . 250 . 3rd.
6. Kim, Seung-Chul . Lu, Christina T. . Lepschi, Brendan J. . 2004 . Phylogenetic positions of Actites megalocarpa and Sonchus hydrophilus (Sonchinae: Asteraceae) based on ITS and chloroplast non-coding DNA sequences . Australian Systematic Botany . 17 . 1 . 73–81. 10.1071/SB03019.
7. Book: Coastal Plants of the Bellarine Peninsula . Longmore, Sue . Smithyman, Steve . Crawley, Matt . 2010 . Bellarine Catchment Network .