Plants of
South Australia
South Australia
Prior names
Centipeda minima, partly
Myriogyne elatinoides
Etymology
Centipeda from Latin for centipede, from 'centi' meaning hundred and 'ped' meaning foot, referring to the creeping stems. Elatinoides means resembles plants of the genus Elatine.
Distribution and status
Found only on the Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia, growing on seasonally inundated sites, such as creek-beds, margins of rivers, lakes and billabongs, usually on silty to clay soils. Also found in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania (and New Zealand). Native. Rare in South Australia. Rare in Queensland. Common in the other States.
Herbarium region: Southern Lofty
NRM region: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)
Plant description
Prostrate annual or perennial herb with branches to 30 cm long, sometimes rooting from lower nodes, mostly glabrous. Leaves mostly alternate, obovate or narrow-obovate, to 20 mm long and 8 mm wide, entire or shallowly toothed, resin dotted on both surfaces. Inflorescence a single shortly pedunculate flowerhead on a peduncle to 3 mm long with green or yellow-green corollas and purplish florets. Flowering between December and April. Fruiting head brown, dense heads with involucral bracts widely spreading to slightly deflexed. Seeds are pale brown narrow-obovate to 2 mm long, with 3-4 angled, each angle with a thickened longitudinal rib with short ascending to appressed hairs, faces with scattered glandular hairs. Seed embryo type is spatulate.
Seed collection and propagation
Collect seeds between January and June. 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. Seed viability is usually high. Seeds are non-dormant, viable seed should germinate readily.
