Plants of
South Australia
Brachyscome readeri
Asteraceae
Southern Daisy,
Reader's Daisy
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Regional Species Conservation Assessments per IBRA subregion.
Least concern
Near threatened
Rare
Vulnerable
Endangered
Critically endangered
Extinct
Data deficient
Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
Marla
Marree
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Oodnadatta
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Wudinna
Keith
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Botanical art

Kath Alcock paintings: 2

Prior names

Brachycome readeri

Common names

Southern Daisy

Reader's Daisy

Etymology

Brachyscome from the Greek 'brachys' meaning short and 'kome' meaning hair, referring to the tuft of short bristles or hairs of the pappus. Readeri named after Felix Maximilian Reader (1850-1911), a German-born Australian chemist, naturalist and botanical collector.

Distribution and status

Found only in the lower South-east in South Australia, growing in seasonally wet ground on margins of swamp. Also found in New South Wales and Victoria. Native. Very rare in South Australia. Rare in Victoria. Uncommon in New South Wales.
Herbarium region: South Eastern
NRM region: South East
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Annual herb to 13 cm high with erect to ascending, weak, sparsely hairy stems. Basal leaves linear or narrowly oblanceolate, entire or l-3-toothed, to 7.5 cm long, hairless. Other leaves linear or lobed with 3-5 linear acute segments, to 6 cm long, hairless. Flowers white appearing between August and October. Fruits are brown daisy-heads. Seeds are orange to dark-brown, cone-shaped seed to 1.5 mm and 1 mm, with striation down the length of the seed and covered with scattered wrinkles. Seed embryo type is spatulate fully developed.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between October and December. Pick heads that are maturing, drying off, with brown seeds that dislodge easily. Place the seed-heads in a tray and leave to dry for a week. Then gently rub the heads by hand to dislodge the seeds. Use a sieve to separate the unwanted material. 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. This species may have physiological dormancy that need to be overcome for the seed to germinate.

Seeds stored:
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LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)
Number
of plants
Date
collected
Collection number
Collection location
Date
stored
% ViabilityStorage
temperature
BGA 
MSB
820 (0.16 g)
1,000 (0.2 g)
22-Nov-2007PJA158
South Eastern
1-Jan-201270%-18°C
BGA900 (0.19 g)14-Nov-2008PJA184
South Eastern
1-Jan-201295%-18°C
Location: BGA — the seeds are stored at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, MSB — the seeds are stored at the Millennium Seed Bank, Kew, England.
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.