Plants of
South Australia
Centipeda nidiformis
Asteraceae
Cotton Sneezeweed,
Spreading Sneezeweed
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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 painting: 1

Prior names

Centipeda minima, partly

Common names

Cotton Sneezeweed

Spreading Sneezeweed

Etymology

Centipeda from Latin for centipede, from 'centi' meaning hundred and 'ped' meaning foot, referring to the creeping stems. Nidiformis meaning nest-shaped, referring to the depressed-hemispherical flower receptacle.

Distribution and status

Found in three disjunct locations in South Australia in Innamincka, along the Murray River and in the upper South-east, growing along the margins of watercourses on clay or clay-loam soils. Also found in all mainland States. Native. Uncommon in South Australia. Uncommon in Western Australia, New South Wales and Victoria. Common in the other States.
Herbarium regions: Lake Eyre, Murray, South Eastern
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Decumbent to ascending cottony annual, spreading to 15 cm diameter and to 15 cm high; adventitious roots not or rarely produced. Branches densely white-cottony, at least on young growth. Leaves more or less spatulate to 10 mm long and 5 mm wide, usually with very slender petiole-like bases that are often almost as long as, (occasionally longer than) the broader part of the lamina; shallowly toothed or sub-entire; surfaces light to densely cottony, with scattered resin droplets. Flower heads yellow with no petals, globular when fully open to 5 mm diam, solitary. Flowering between January and April. Fruits are dense brown daisy head. Seeds are pale brown four-angled pyramidal seed to 1.2 mm long and 0.4 mm wide with scattered hairs on the narrower part. Seed embryo type is spatulate.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between March and July. Collect heads that are drying off and turning brown. Place the heads in a tray for a week to dry. Then rub the heads gently with your hands or a rubber bung to dislodge the seeds. Use a sieve to separate the unwanted material. Be careful as the seeds are very small. 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 average, at 50%. Seeds are non-dormant, viable seed should germinate readily.

Seeds stored:
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LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)
Number
of plants
Date
collected
Collection number
Collection location
Date
stored
% ViabilityStorage
temperature
BGA41,300 (1.44 g)2017-May-2007RJB71826
North Western
19-Sep-200850%-18°C
BGA34,200 (0.47 g)1019-May-2007RJB71968
Gairdner-Torrens
1-Jan-201695%-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.
Germination table:
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