Plants of
South Australia
Leptorhynchos scaber
Asteraceae
Annual Buttons
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Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
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Oodnadatta
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Prior names

Rhytidanthe scabra

Leptorhynchos rhytidanthe

Leptorhynchos medius

Leptorhynchos elongatus var. peduncularis

Leptorhynchos scabrus

Etymology

Leptorhynchos from the Greek 'leptos' meaning slender and 'rhynchos' meaning a snout; alluding to the beaked achenes of some species. Scaber from Latin meaning rough or scaly; alluding to the rough textured plant.

Distribution and status

Found on Eyre and Yorke Peninsulas, southern Flinders and Mount Lofty Ranges and the lower South-east in South Australia, growing on coastal limestone & dunes and grassy woodland. Also found in Western Australia and Victoria. Was recorded from New South Wales but presumed extinct as species has not been collected for over 100 years. Native. Rare in South Australia. Extinct in New South Wales. Very rare in Victoria. Uncommon in Western Australia.
Herbarium regions: Flinders Ranges, Eyre Peninsula, Yorke Peninsula, Southern Lofty, South Eastern, Green Adelaide
NRM regions: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, Northern and Yorke, South Australian Arid Lands, South East
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Annual herb to 18 cm high, branching at or shortly above the base with erect to ascending stems covered in glands and hairs. Leaves elliptic to 4 cm long and 3 mm wide, sometimes entirely basal, acute, scabrous or with minute hairs, margins recurved. Flower-head hemispherical to 2 cm diameter, outer involucral bracts ovate-lanceolate, acute, margin minutely toothed, almost transparent; inner bracts oblong, obtuse, glandular, herbaceous, with translucent, scarious margins, tip minutely fringed; florets bright yellow. Flowering between September and November. Fruits are white fluffy daisy-head. Seeds are orange-brown ovoid seeds to 4 mm long and 0.5 mm wide, with a tubercule surface and a long thin tail with long white pappus at the end. Seed embryo type is spatulate fully developed.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between October and December. 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 two collections, the seed viability was high, ranging from 80% to 100%.

Seeds stored:
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LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)
Number
of plants
Date
collected
Collection number
Collection location
Date
stored
% ViabilityStorage
temperature
BGA 
MSB
11,500 (5.61 g)
11,500 (5.61 g)
100+6-Nov-2008DJD1298
Yorke Peninsula
20-Jul-200980%+5°C, -18°C
BGA34,000 (4.72 g)8011-Nov-2009TST877
Yorke Peninsula
1-Jun-2010100%-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.