Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Asterolasia trymalioides
Common name
Alpine starbush
Family
Rutaceae
Where found
subsp. areniticola: Heath on sandstone, especially in areas of poor drainage. Budawang Range near Nerriga, in Morton National Park
subsp. trymalioides: Subalpine heath and grassland. Kosciuszko National Park.
subsp. villosa: Shrubby snow gum woodland, shrubland, and subalpine heath. ACT and Tinderry Range east of the ACT.
Notes
Shrub to 2 m high or prostrate. Young parts smelling of parsnip when rubbed. Branchlets grey to brown stellate-hairy (needs a hand lens or a macro app on your phone/tablet to see) when young, older stems becoming hairless. Leaves alternating up the stems, 0.3–0.9 cm long, 2–6 mm wide, tips blunt, margins curved or rolled down, upper surface initially stellate hairy, finally hairless, lower surface white to brown stellate-hairy. Flowers yellow, brown stellate-hairy outside, with 5 petals each 3.5-10.7 mm long. Flowers single or few together. Flowering: spring-summer.
subsp. areniticola: Erect shrub to 2 m tall. Leaves and stems variously hairy when young. Stellate hairs (needs a hand lens or a macro app on your phone/tablet to see), when retained, 0.6–0.8 mm in diameter. Lower surface of leaves soon hairless, but with scattered warts. Leaf margins curved down, the margins usually covering up to 10% of the lower surface. Petals bright yellow, 6–10 mm long.
subsp. trymalioides: Prostrate or low shrub to 0.8 m high. Leaves and stems variously hairy when young. Stellate hairs (needs a hand lens or a macro app on your phone/tablet to see), when retained, 0.3–0.9 mm in diameter. Lower surface of leaves soon hairless, but with scattered warts. Leaf margins curved down, the margins covering about 20% or more of the lower surface. Petals dull yellow, 3.5-7 mm long.
subsp. villosa: Erect to spreading shrub to 1.5 m high. Leaves, stems, and especially, new growth densely covered in stalked, stellate hairs (needs a hand lens or a macro app on your phone/tablet to see) 0.6-1.5 mm in diameter, the stalks persisting as sparse to moderately dense warts or short bristles. Leaf margins rolled down. Petals bright yellow, 6.5-10.7 mm long.
All native plants on unleased land in the ACT are protected.
VICFLORA description of species and key to two subspecies: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/e8606814-a9fd-4959-8101-e5270db5dcc0 (accessed 11 April 2021)
Description of subsp. areniticola based on that in McDougall, K., Walsh, N. & Hook, with (2016), Recognition of subspecies in Asterolasia trymalioides (Rutaceae: Rutoideae). Muelleria 34: 77-78, Figs 3, 5
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