Conostylis candicans explained

Conostylis candicans, commonly known as grey cottonheads,[1] is a flowering plant in the family Haemodoraceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It has grey foliage and bright yellow flower heads.

Description

Conostylis candicans is a perennial herb to high that forms a rhizome. The leaves are in loose clusters or tufted, flat, grey, narrow, long and wide and the surface densely covered with yellowish or light, grey matted hairs. The scape is about long, thin, flower heads bright yellow, perianth long, globular shaped in bud, loosening with age, bracts long, fleshy, grey, covered in matted hairs. Flowering occurs from August to November.[2]

Taxonomy and naming

Conostylis candicans was first formally described in 1839 by Stephan Friedrich Ladislaus Endlicher and the description was published in Novarum Stirpium Decades.[3] The specific epithet (candicans) means becoming white or whitish.[4]

Distribution and habitat

Grey cottonheads grows in sandy locations in woodland and coastal heath from Shark Bay to the Scott River in Western Australia.[2]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Conostylis candicans . Australian Native Plant Society (Australia) . 14 May 2023.
  2. Book: George . A.S . Flora of Australia 45 . 1987 . Australian Govt. Publishing Service . Canberra . 0644052147 . 75–77 . 15 May 2023.
  3. Web site: Conostylis candicans . Australian Plant Name Index . 15 May 2023.
  4. Book: George . A.S . Sharr . F.A . Western Australian Plant Names and their meanings . 2021 . Four Gables . Kardinya . 9780958034197 . 160 . 4th.