Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

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Calomeria amaranthoides

Common name

Incense Plant, Plume Bush

Family

Asteraceae

Where found

Forest, disturbed sites, roadsides, and along river flats. Coast, ranges, and the eastern edge of the tablelands. No recent records in the Wollongong and Sydney areas.

Notes

Biennial herb, to 3 m high. Main stem more or less white-woolly, branchlets with dense glandular hairs, with or without cottony hairs. Leaves aromatic when rubbed, alternating up the stem, 10–30 cm long, 20–100 mm wide, both surfaces hairy with glandular hairs, lower surface more or less woolly, upper surface more or less woolly only on the lower part of the midrib, margins frequently more or less scalloped, tips gradually tapering to a point. Flower heads with 2-4 florets, 6–8 mm long, 1.5–2.5 mm wide, with 0 petals. 12–17 bracts surrounding each flower head, pale brown more or less tinged with orange or pink to rose-pink or red, occasionally almost colourless. Flower clusters of 200–500 flower heads, usually 35–60 cm long, the branches weeping. Flowering: summer–autumn.

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Calomeria~amaranthoides (accessed 7 January, 2021)