Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Xanthosia scopulicola

Common name

None

Family

Apiaceae

Where found

Cracks and crevices of sandstone cliff faces and on rocky outcrops above the cliffs. Blue Mountains.

Notes

Shrub to 0.2 m high. Bark on mature stems flaking. Young stems stellate hairy (needs a hand lens or a macro app on your phone/tablet to see), appearing grey woolly. Leaves alternating up the stems, stellate hairy, grey-green above, white below, margins scalloped. Adult leaves 0.5–2 cm long, 5–25 mm wide. Juvenile leaves compound, with 3 leaflets, the terminal leaflet 0.5–2 cm long, 5–25 mm wide, lateral leaflets 0.3–0.5 cm long, 3–4 mm wide. Individual flowers with 5 white petals 1–1.2 mm long, and 5 green or yellow petal-like sepals each 1–1.2 mm long. Flowers in 3-13 flowered clusters. Flower clusters may look like individual flowers. 3 bracteoles below the clusters, petal-like, yellow, 3–5 mm long. Flower clusters in groups of 2-3. Flowers November–January.

Vulnerable NSW. Provisions of the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 No 63 relating to the protection of protected plants generally also apply to plants that are a threatened species.

NSW Threatened Species profile with photo:  http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedspeciesapp/profile.aspx?id=10842  (accessed 8 January 2021)

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Xanthosia~scopulicola (accessed 8 January 2021)

Description above partly taken from Hart, J.M. & Henwood, M.J., (2000) Systematics of the Xanthosia pilosa complex (Apiaceae: Hydrocotyloideae). Australian Systematic Botany. 13(2): 250-251, Figs 6, 7