Plants of
South Australia
Xerochrysum halmaturorum
Asteraceae
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Regional Species Conservation Assessments per IBRA subregion.
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Vulnerable
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Extinct
Data deficient
Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
Marla
Marree
Mount Gambier
Oodnadatta
Renmark
Wudinna
Keith
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Etymology

Xerochrysum from the Greek 'xeros' meaning dry and 'chrysos' meaning gold; referring to the golden papery flowers of the genus. 

Distribution and status

Endemic to South Australia and found only on Kangaroo Island and the Fleurieu Peninsula, growing in open woodland. Native. Uncommon in South Australia.
Herbarium regions: Southern Lofty, Kangaroo Island
NRM regions: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, Kangaroo Island
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Erect perennial herb to 1 m high. Leaves narrowly to broadly oblanceolate or narrowly elliptic to lanceolate, to 10 cm long and 20 mm wide scabrous-pubescent like the stem, especially on the margins. Flower-heads irregular, solitary or in loose clusters, with large yellow papery daisy flowers, bracts pale yellow, intermediate bracts longest, bright-yellow or rarely white, outer ones often streaked reddish or brown. Flowering between August and November. Fruits are large yellow-brown daisy head. Seeds are brown, oblong to cylindrical to 3.5 mm long and 1 mm wide. Seed embryo type is spatulate fully developed.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between December and February. Collect whole heads that are brown or collect seeds that are easily removed from the head. These should be hard 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 dark 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. Seed viability is usually. Seeds are non-dormant, viable seed should germinate readily without any treatment.

Seeds stored:
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LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)
Number
of plants
Date
collected
Collection number
Collection location
Date
stored
% ViabilityStorage
temperature
BGA30,000 (23.61 g)120+6-Nov-2018DJD3809
Southern Lofty
24-Apr-201990%-18°C, -80°C
BGA37,500 (28.320 g)100+13-Dec-2021Cape Willoughby, Richard Glatz
Kangaroo Island
7-Jul-2022100%-18°C, -80°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.