Plants of
South Australia
Podolepis aristata ssp. affinis
Asteraceae
Button Podolepis,
Grey Copper-wire Daisy,
Bright Podolepis
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Regional Species Conservation Assessments per IBRA subregion.
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Near threatened
Rare
Vulnerable
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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: 4

Prior names

Podolepis canescens, partly

Podolepis affinis

Common names

Button Podolepis

Grey Copper-wire Daisy

Bright Podolepis

Etymology

Podolepis from the Greek 'podos' meaning foot and 'lepis' meaning a scale, referring to the stalked involucral bracts. Aristata from the Latin 'arista' meaning bristle or awn, referring to the involucral bracts which are abruptly contracted into long acuminate points. Affinis from Latin meaning related or allied to or similar to another species.

Distribution and status

Found scattered across the southern part of South Australia, growing in a range of habitats including mallee, chenopod scrubland and woodland. Also found in Western Australia, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. Native. Common in South Australia. Common in the other States.
Herbarium regions: North Western, Lake Eyre, Nullarbor, Gairdner-Torrens, Flinders Ranges, Eastern, Eyre Peninsula, Northern Lofty, Murray, Yorke Peninsula, Southern Lofty, South Eastern, Green Adelaide
NRM regions: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, Alinytjara Wilurara, Eyre Peninsula, Northern and Yorke, South Australian Arid Lands, South Australian Murray-Darling Basin, South East
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Small annual herb to 40 cm tall with one to several brown to reddish, wiry, hairy stems. Leaves woolly, oblanceolate to 12 cm long. Involucral bracts many-seriate with slender linear, glandular claws and lanceolate to ovate lamina to 10 mm long; base obtuse to truncate. Florets yellow. Flowering between August and November. Fruits are white fluffy daisy-head. Seeds are brown ovoid seed to 2 mm long and 0.7 mm wide, covered in small tubercules, with long feather-like pappus at one end. Seed embryo type is spatulate fully developed.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between November 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.

Seeds stored:
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LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)
Number
of plants
Date
collected
Collection number
Collection location
Date
stored
% ViabilityStorage
temperature
BGA17,000 (9.7 g)100+30-Oct-2015DJD3245
Murray
2-May-201790%-18°C
BGA6,400 (1.98 g)100+24-Oct-2018DJD3780
Yorke Peninsula
24-Apr-201990%-18°C, -80°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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