Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Coronidium monticola

Flowering plants. Photographer Don Wood, Namadgi National Park, ACT

Leaves. Photographer Geoff McVeigh, Namadgi National Park, ACT

Carpet. Photographer Geoff McVeigh, Namadgi National Park, ACT

Common name

None

Family

Asteraceae

Where found

Forest, woodland, and subalpine and alpine grassland and herbfields. Usually above 1000 m altitude, and often in gravelly or rocky, well-drained soils. Kosciuszko National Park and ACT. Ranges and tablelands south from about Braidwood.

Notes

Perennial herb to about 0.35 m high, compact, sometimes sprawling, rhizomatous, often forming large clumps. Stems densely hairy, occasionally slightly sticky, often freely branched. Leaves alternating up the stem, 2-5 cm long, 3-12 mm wide, upper surface smooth, sparsely to densely cottony; lower surface cottony to densely woolly, with many glands, but these are mostly obscured by the hairs; tips blunt to pointed, with a short mucro; margins curved down or rarely flat. Length:width ratio less than or equal to 8. Flower heads with many papery, usually rich yellow to orange, 'petals', and yellow centres. Outer 'petals' straw-coloured to golden-brown, dry and membranous. Flower heads 18-30 mm in diameter, depressed hemisperical, single. Flowers January to March.

Coronidium monticola is a newly described species. Previous authors included specimens of this species in Helichrysum scorpioides or Helichrysum rutidolepis.

At higher altitudes, intermediate forms between Coronidium gunnianum and Coronidium monticola occur. The population near Oberon does not fit easily into Coronidium gunnianum, Coronidium monticola, or Coronidium scorpioides (personal communication from Jackie Miles).

All native plants on unleased land in the ACT are protected.

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