Botanical art
Prior names
Leptorrhynchus tetrachaetus, orth.var.
Doratolepis tetrachaeta
Leptorhynchos pulchellus
Common names
Beauty Buttons
Little Buttons
Etymology
Leptorhynchos from the Greek 'leptos' meaning slender and 'rhynchos' meaning a snout; alluding to the beaked achenes of some species. Tetrachaetus from the Greek 'tetra' meaning four and 'chaite' meaning bristle; referring to the four bristles of bisexual florets.
Distribution and status
Found on Eyre and Yorke Peninsulas, Flinders Ranges, Moutn Lofty Ranges and the South-east in South Australia, growing in various situations but in moister regions usually on dry, well drained sites. Also found in Western Australia, New South Wales and Victoria. Native. Common in South Australia. Very rare in Western Australia. Common in the other states.
Herbarium regions: Gairdner-Torrens, Flinders Ranges, Eyre Peninsula, Northern Lofty, Murray, Yorke Peninsula, Southern Lofty, South Eastern, Green Adelaide
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)
Plant description
Annual herb to 15 cm high, usually much-branched, ascending to erect with wiry, glabrous to sparsely hair stems. Leaves linear, narrow-oblanceolate or -lanceolate, to 20 mm long and 2 mm wide, acute, upper surface glabrous or with scattered hairs, undersurface usually cottony, margins usually recurved. Flower-head obconical to 10 mm diameter, outer involucral bracts lanceolate, acute, yellow-translucent, sometimes golden, margins densely ciliate; innermost bracts linear, mostly herbaceous and glandular, with slightly dilated, transparent, ciliate tip; florets yellow. Flowering between September and December. Fruits are white fluffy daisy-head. Seeds are brownellipsoid seed to 2 mm long and 0.5 mm wide, covered in short barbs and with long feathered-like papus at one end, bisexual florets with 4 bristles and female florets with 2 or 3 bristles. Seed embryo type is spatulate fully developed.
Seed collection and propagation
Collect seeds between October and January. Collect heads that are fluffy. Either pick off the whole heads or use your finger and pull off the seeds from the head. Mature seeds will come off easily. Place the heads in a tray for a week to dry. No cleaning is required if only pure seeds are collected. If heads are collected, then rub the heads gently with your hands to dislodge the seeds. Viable seeds will be fat and hard. 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. From three collections, the seed viability were high, ranging from 85% to 100%.
| Location | No. of seeds (weight grams) | Number of plants | Date collected | Collection number Collection location | Date stored | % Viability | Storage temperature |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BGA MSB | 6,500 (0.92 g) 6,500 (0.92 g) | 100+ | 17-Oct-2006 | DJD593 Yorke Peninsula | 1-Aug-2007 | 85% | -18°C |
| BGA | 4,800 (0.31 g) | 200 | 22-Nov-2009 | KHB313 Flinders Ranges | 1-Jun-2010 | 100% | -18°C |
| BGA | 7,600 (0.3 g) | 200+ | 11-Nov-2009 | TST875 Yorke Peninsula | 1-Jun-2010 | 100% | -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.