Xerochrysum strictum T.L.Collins & J.J.Bruhl, 2022

Collins, Timothy L., Schmidt-Lebuhn, Alexander N., Andrew, Rose L., Telford, Ian R. H. & Bruhl, Jeremy J., 2022, There’s gold in them thar hills! Morphology and molecules delimit species in Xerochrysum (Asteraceae; Gnaphalieae) and reveal many new taxa, Australian Systematic Botany 35 (2), pp. 120-185 : 170-172

Xerochrysum strictum T.L.Collins & J.J.Bruhl , sp. nov.

Type: AUSTRALIA: Queensland: Atherton Tableland: Herberton – Irvinebank Road , ~ 6.2 km W of Atherton – Herberton road, 27 June 2018, T.L. Collins 1058 & J.J. Bruhl, (holo: BRI!; iso: CANB!, CNS!, NE 107426 !) .

Xerochrysum bracteatum subsp. (Mount Elliot A.R. Bean 3593), A.E. Holland in P.D. Bostock and A.E. Holland (eds), Census Queensl. Fl. 32 (2007); CHAH, Austral. Pl. Census (2020) [accessed 20 February 2020].

Xerochrysum sp. ‘Cockatoo Creek’, P.G. Wilson, Nuytsia 28: 13 (2017).

[ Xerochrysum bracteatum auct . non (Vent.) Tzvelev: N.N. Tzvelev, Novosti Sist. Vyssh. Rast. 27: 151 (1990), p.p., populations of erect, perennial plants with hirsute cauline leaves with septate trichomes and stipitate glands on both abaxial and adaxial surfaces, in central and northern Queensland only].

Diagnosis

Distinguished from other species growing in northern Queensland or those with which it has been confused in the past, by the perennial life form (v. X. bracteatum annual or biennial), presence of septate trichomes and stipitate glands on leaf abaxial surface (v. X. bracteatum and X. banksii with glands only), hirsute leaf indumentum adaxially (v. X. bracteatum hispid), erect habit (v. X. banksii prostrate; X. gudang decumbent to erect), acuminate medial phyllary apices (v. X. bracteatum and X. banksii obtuse, X. boreale cuspidate), leaves 5–25 mm wide (leaves 5–10 mm wide in X. banksii , 4–9 mm wide in X. boreale , and 6–15 mm wide in X. gudang ), and presence of persistent glands on leaf adaxial surface ( v. fragile and readily lost in X. boreale and X. gudang ).

Erect, taprooted, perennial herb, up to ~ 1.3 m tall, readily resprouting from taproot. Stems and branches cobwebby or woolly, hirsute, and with glands; internode length 15–25 mm. Basal leaf rosette absent at flowering unless resprouting. Basal leaves obovate, 80–120 mm long and 20–50 mm wide, base subauriculate and amplexicaul, margin woolly, apex mucronate; abaxial indumentum villous with septate hairs and stipitate glands, midvein indumentum hirsute; adaxial indumentum villous. Cauline leaves oblanceolate to obovate, 50–200 mm long and 5–25 mm wide, base subauriculate and amplexicaul, margin cobwebby to cottony, or hirsute, apex mucronate; abaxial indumentum cobwebby to hirsute, and with glands; abaxial midvein indumentum cobwebby to hirsute; adaxial indumentum hirsute and with glands. Foliaceous bracts subtending capitula 5–10 mm long, margin with glands, cobwebby, and hispid. Capitula 30–40 mm wide, terminal, in panicles. Outer phyllaries broad-ovate, yellow, brown, or straw-coloured; basal margin fimbriate and hispid, abaxial surface smooth, apex apiculate. Medial phyllaries narrow ovate to lanceolate, abaxially yellow, apex acuminate. Stylar appendages narrowly triangular to obovate. Cypsela oblong, ~ 2.2 mm long and ~ 0.7 mm wide, cross-section circular; pericarp straw- or brass-coloured, idioblasts present. Pappus deciduous, ~ 8 mm long.

Distribution

Endemic to Queensland, occurring in the Brigalow Belt North, Einasleigh Uplands and Cape York Peninsula Bioregions and as disjunct populations in the Brigalow Belt South Bioregion ( Fig. 40 ).

Phenology

Recorded flowering June–November and fruiting recorded in July ( Fig. 41 ).

Habitat

Grassy eucalypt woodland at altitudes of> 500 m in the northern distribution and>300-m altitude in the Brigalow Belt South Bioregion.

Conservation status

Occurs over a wide geographical area, including in several conservation reserves and is not considered to be rare or threatened. We recommend a status of ‘ Least Concern ’ ( IUCN 2019).

Notes

Xerochrysum strictum is a morphologically variable species distributed along a geographic cline, with some populations having distinctly narrow leaves, such as, for example, S.A. Morain 197 and R.J. Fensham 253, similar to a population included in this study from Blackbraes National Park (T.L. Collins 1067) in the western part of the distribution. Specimens from Mount Fox seemingly have no glands on the uppermost cauline leaf margins, and no glands on the stems, for example, M.S. Clemens s.n. ( BRI 248110!), M.S. Clemens s.n. ( BRI 362638!). The informal phrase name Xerochrysum sp. North Kennedy has been used at NE for curatorial purposes and this study.

Etymology

The specific epithet is from the Latin, strictus (tight, close, straight, drawn together), and refers to the erect habit seen in the field and in cultivation.

Selected specimens examined

QUEENSLAND: Cook: McIlwraith Range , edge of scrub, north-west of campsite, 25 May 2003, D.L. Jones 18897 ( CANB!); Herberton Range Ridge Road , 27 June 2018, T.L. Collins 1051 & J.J. Bruhl ( BRI!, CANB!, CNS!, NE!); Herberton–Irvinebank road , 27 June 2018, T.L. Collins 1058 & J.J. Bruhl ( BRI!, CANB!, CNS!, NE!); SSW of Wondecla, 1 July 2018, T.L. Collins 1063 & J.J. Bruhl ( BRI!, CANB!, CNS!, NE!); Blackbraes National Park , 2 July 2018, T.L. Collins 1067 & J.J. Bruhl ( BRI!, CANB!, CNS!, NE!). North Kennedy : ~ 17 km W of Paluma along road to Hidden Valley, 11 Nov. 2006, J.J. Bruhl 2473 ( BRI!, NE!); ~ 700 m SSE of Mount Zero along high-tension power-line access track, 11 Nov. 2006, J.J. Bruhl 2477 & I.R. Telford ( BRI!, NE!, NSW!); base of Roma Peak , ~ 40 km S of Bowen, 30 June 1991, A.R. Bean 3347 ( BRI!) ; 21 km NW of Pentland on road to Lolworth Station , Hughenden, 24 July 1975, A.D. Chapman 1355 ( BRI!, CANB). South Kennedy: Clarke Range , ~ 8 km NW of Eungella, 24 June 2014, I.R. Telford 13489, J.J. Bruhl & C.J. Prychid ( BRI!, CANB!, NE!, US!). Leichardt : W lower slopes of Wolgang [Wolfgang] Peak, 17 Oct. 1983, R.J. Henderson H2912 & G.P. Guymer ( CANB!) .

Figures

Fig. 40. Distribution of Xerochrysum strictum.

Fig. 41. Isotype of Xerochrysum strictum (T.L. Collins 1058 & J.J. Bruhl, NE 107426).