Calotis dentex explained

Calotis dentex commonly known as white burr-daisy,[1] is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is a small shrub with white daisy like flowers and grows in New South Wales and Queensland.

Description

Calotis dentex is an upright, perennial, multi-branched, understory shrub to high with smooth or slightly hairy, brown stems. The cauline leaves are lance to oblong-shaped, long, wide, margins variable, lobed, toothed, sometimes entire, sessile and with occasional hairs. The white, occasionally mauve flowers are borne on stalks up to long, in diameter, either singly or in a loose cyme from leaf axils and a yellow central disc in diameter. Flowering occurs from October to April and the fruit is a flattened, reddish brown cypsela with several spines long.[2] [3]

Taxonomy and naming

Calotis dentex was first formally described in 1820 by Robert Brown and the description was published in Consisting of Coloured Figures of Exotic Plants, Cultivated in British Gardens; with their History and Mode of Treatmentand the type specimen was collected at Sydney by Robert Brown. The specific epithet "dentex" refers to the toothed edges of the leaves.[4] [5]

Distribution and habitat

White burr-daisy grows mostly on clay soils in grasslands and open forests in New South Wales and Queensland.[1]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Fairley . Alan . Moore . Philip . Native Plants of the Sydney Region . 2010 . Jacana Books . 978-1-74175-571-8. 446.
  2. Book: Fairley . Alan . Moore . Philip . Native Plants of the Sydney Region . 2010 . Jacana Books . 978-1-74175-571-8. 446.
  3. Web site: Everett . J. . Calotis dentex . PlantNET-NSW Flora online . Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney . 16 November 2024.
  4. Web site: Calotis dentex. Vascular Plants Australian Plant Name Index (APNI). 2021-09-21.
  5. Les Robinson - Field Guide to the Native Plants of Sydney, page 132