Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Arctotheca calendula

Flowers and leaves. Photographer Don Wood, near Pambula Lake

Seeding heads. Photographer Alex Kirk, Canberra, ACT

Plant. Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Murray Fagg, Gooyooyaroo National Park, ACT

Carpet. Wamboin NSW, near Canberra

Common name

Capeweed; Cape dandelion

Family

Asteraceae

Where found

Woodland, grassy areas, disturbed sites, and roadsides. Widespread. Sporadic on the coast and ranges.

Notes

Introduced annual herb to 0.3 m tall, prostrate or sprawling. Stems fleshy, hairy. Leaves mostly basal, 5-25 cm long, 20-60 mm wide, green and rough to hairy above, silvery with white cobwebby to woolly hairs below, margins deeply dissected and toothed, tips blunt. Flower heads 20-60 mm in diameter overall, with 15-20 'petals', yellow above, green or purplish below, and dark brown or purplish to black centres. Flower heads behind the 'petals' hemispherical. Flowers Winter to Spring. Seeds enveloped in pinky purple to brown wool.

PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Arctotheca~calendula (accessed 18 October 2020)