Leptorhynchos squamatus

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Scaly buttons
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Leptorhynchos
Species:
L. squamatus
Binomial name
Leptorhynchos squamatus

Leptorhynchos squamatus, commonly known as scaly buttons,[2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is an upright to ascending herb with variably shaped leaves and yellow flowers and grows in eastern Australia.

Description[edit]

Leptorhynchos squamatus is an upright or ascending herb 10–40 cm (3.9–15.7 in) high, stems mostly simple, woolly to smooth and aging to reddish brown. Its leaves are oblong or narrowly oblong-lance shaped, 1.5–3.5 cm (0.59–1.38 in) long and 2–4 mm (0.079–0.157 in) wide. Leaf lower surface smooth or more or less covered sparsely in longish, coarse hairs, upper surface covered with soft, appressed, woolly hairs at the apex. The involucral bracts extend down the stalk of the inflorescence, mostly dry and scaly, clear or brownish. The flower heads are at the end of branches on a peduncle 5–15 cm (2.0–5.9 in) long, bell-shaped, 7–10 mm (0.28–0.39 in) long, 8–15 mm (0.31–0.59 in) in diameter and the florets yellow. Flowering occurs from summer to autumn and the fruit is an oblong to scythe-shaped achene.[2]

Taxonomy and naming[edit]

This species was described in 1806 by Jacques Labillardière who gave it the name Chrysocoma squamata and the description was published in Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen.[3]In 1832 Christian Friedrich Lessing changed the name to Leptorhynchos squamatus and the description was published in Synopsis Generum Compositarum.[4][5]The specific epithet (squamatus) means "scaly".[6]

Distribution and habitat[edit]

Scaly buttons grows in a variety of situations including forest, mallee, bushland on clay and sandy soils in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania.[7]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Leptorhynchos squamatus". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Leptorhynchos squamatus". VICFLORA-Flora of Victoria. Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  3. ^ "Leptorhynchos squamatus". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  4. ^ "Leptorhynchos squamatus". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  5. ^ Lessing, Christian (1832). Synopsis Generum Compositarum. London. p. 273. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  6. ^ George, A.S; Sharr, F.A (2021). Western Australian Plant Names and their meanings (4th ed.). Kardinya: Four Gables. p. 321. ISBN 9780958034197.
  7. ^ Everett, J. "Leptorhynchos squamatus". PlantNET-NSW Flora online. Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. Retrieved 22 April 2024.