Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Actites megalocarpus
Dune thistle
Asteraceae
Beaches, dunes and coastal cliffs. Coastal.
Perennial herb to 0.6 m tall, forming large clumps, the whole plant hairless or rough. Leaves usually with prickly margins. Stems and leaves fleshy. Outer bracts surrounding the bases of the flowers with a row of fleshy spines near the base. Leaves basal and alternating up the stems, 1.5-20 cm long, 5-60 mm wide, sometimes deeply divided, margins entire to toothed, bases either tapering, or cordate and stalkless. Flower heads with many yellow 'petals' each 6-10 mm long, and yellow centres 10-20 mm in diameter. Flowers most of the year.
PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Actites~megalocarpus (accessed 2 January, 2021)
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