Botanical art
Prior names
Helipterum incanum
Helipterum saxatile
Helipterum albicans
Common names
Hill Sunray
Etymology
Anemocarpa from the Greek 'anema' meaning without a thread and 'carpos' meaning fruit; referring to the absence of hairs on the achenes. Saxatilis from Latin for rocky; alluding to where the species is found, growing among rocks.
Distribution and status
Found in the north central part in South Australia, growing among rocks and on sand hills. Also found in the Northern Territory, Queensland and New South Wales. Native. Common in South Australia. Uncommon in Queensland and New South Wales. Common in the Northern Territory.
Herbarium regions: North Western, Lake Eyre, Nullarbor
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)
Plant description
Much-branched woody and woolly perennial herb to 40 cm high. Leaves sessile, oblong to narrow-obovate to 30 mm long and 8 mm wide, apex acute, margins crinkly. Flower-heads terminal on slender naked peduncles to 8 cm long, heads to 20 mm diameter, involucre spreading from base, white to pale pink. Flowering between May and September. Fruits are dry daisy head to 20 mm wide. Seeds are narrow cylindrical brown achene to 2 mm long and less than 0.5 mm wide with a feathery pappus to 6 mm long. Seed embryo type is spatulate fully developed.
Seed collection and propagation
Collect seeds between September and November. Collect heads that are round and brown. Place the heads in a tray for a week to dry. Then rub the heads gently with your hands to dislodge the seeds. Viable seeds will be long, fat and hard. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place. From one collection, the seed viability was low, at 30%. This may reflect the low seed set of daisies or maybe due to the timing of the seed collection. Seeds are non-dormant, viable seed should germinate readily.
| Location | No. of seeds (weight grams) | Number of plants | Date collected | Collection number Collection location | Date stored | % Viability | Storage temperature |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BGA | 12,600 (9.49 g) | 50+ | 6-Sep-2013 | MJT449 Lake Eyre | 24-Mar-2015 | 50% | -18°C |
Number of plants: This is the number of plants from which the seeds were collected.
Collection location: The Herbarium of South Australia's region name.
% Viability: Percentage of filled healthy seeds determined by a cut test or x-ray.