Xerochrysum sp.

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 : 182

Xerochrysum sp. Blackfellows Gap (N.T.Burbidge 6926) Qld Herbarium

Low-growing, rhizomatous, perennial herb. Cauline leaves lanceolate, margin revolute and hispid with stipitate glands, apex acuminate to acute, and mucronate. Abaxial lamina indumentum with sessile glands, midvein indumentum hispid; adaxial lamina indumentum hispid and with glands. Outer phyllaries smooth, medial phyllaries oblong to ovate, abaxially yellow. Cypsela ~ 3 mm long and 1 mm wide; pericarp brown, idioblasts absent. Pappus deciduous, ~ 9 mm long.

Habitat and distribution

Collections from open grassy herbfields and woodlands in the Namadgi and Kosciuszko national parks, in the Australian Capital Territory and adjacent New South Wales in the Australian Alps Bioregion, are tentatively assigned to this entity.

Notes

Collections referred to Xerochrysum sp. Blackfellows Gap from Namadgi National Park and Kosciuszko National Park, labelled by herbaria as X. subundulatum (e.g.: J.J. Bruhl 2596, L.A. Craven 10074) have broad-ovate, smooth, outer phyllaries with apiculate apices, and broad medial phyllaries with acuminate apices. These collections also have sessile glands on cauline leaves abaxially and cypsela with a deciduous pappus, whereas typical X. subundulatum has narrow acute phyllaries, cauline leaves abaxially bearing glands on stalks, scattered septate trichomes, and the cypsela with a persistent pappus.

Species limits among X. sp. Blackfellows Gap, X. viscosum and X. subundulatum are uncertain because limited sampling and molecular data were unable to resolve genetically distinct entities or confirm hybrid ancestry; however, informative morphological characters separating these entities deserve further study. The historical legacy of colonialisation and dispossession of the Ngunnawal, Ngunawal and Ngambri people in Namadgi National Park is reflected in the phrase name derived from the location of the first herbarium collection.