Plants of
South Australia
Conospermum patens
Proteaceae
Slender Smoke-bush,
Slender Conospermum
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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
Mount Gambier
Oodnadatta
Renmark
Wudinna
Keith
Yunta
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Botanical art

Kath Alcock paintings: 2

Prior names

Conospermum helichrysoides

Conospermum cucullatum

Common names

Slender Smoke-bush

Slender Conospermum

Etymology

Conospermum from the Latin 'conus' meaning a cone and 'spermum' meaning a seed; alluding to the obconical nuts. Patens means spreading; alluding to the species habit.

Distribution and status

Found in the southern part of South Australia, from the southern Eyre Peninsula to the lower South-east, growing in sandy rarely clay soil in sclerophyllous shrubland or woodland. Also foun in Victoria. Native. Common in South Australia. Common in Victoria.
Herbarium regions: Eyre Peninsula, Northern Lofty, Murray, Southern Lofty, Kangaroo Island, South Eastern, Green Adelaide
NRM regions: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, Eyre Peninsula, Kangaroo Island, South Australian Murray-Darling Basin, South East
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Erect shrub to 2 m high with white-pubescent branches. Leaves widely spreading, distally upturned, linear to linear-oblanceolate, to 25 mm long and 1.5 mm wide, glabrescent. Flower-spikes terminal or in the upper axils with dense white, grey-blue or lilac flowers. Flowering between April and January. Fruits are pale brown fruit cluster at end of stalk, each with a number of seeds. Seeds are cone-shaped nut to 2.5 mm long, covered in short golden brown hairs with a ring of longer hairs around the margin of the cone. Seed embryo type is investing.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between September and February. Collecting mature fruit-heads, those turning brown and contain hard seeds. Place the heads in a tray and leave to dry for 1 to 2 weeks. Then rub the dried heads with your hands to dislodge the seeds. Use a sieve to separate any 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. From two collections, the seed viability was average, ranging from 50% to 55%.

Seeds stored:
  Hide
LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)
Number
of plants
Date
collected
Collection number
Collection location
Date
stored
% ViabilityStorage
temperature
BGA 
MSB
1,700 (3.95 g)
1,700 (3.95 g)
8014-Dec-2005DJD279
Southern Lofty
8-Aug-200655%-18°C
BGA4,800 (8.04 g)14-Dec-2005TEE9
Kangaroo Island
10-Aug-200950%-18°C
BGA1,700 (5.98 g)30+21-Nov-2011KHB615
Southern Lofty
1-Nov-201276%-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.