Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Cyphanthera albicans

Flowering stems and leaves. (subsp. albicans). Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Murray Fagg, Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra, ACT

Flowering stems and leaves. (subsp. tomentosa). Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Murray Fagg, Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra, ACT

Shrub (subsp. albicans). Australian Plant Image Index, photographer R Hotchkiss, Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra, ACT

Common name

Grey ray flower, Hoary ray flower

Family

Solanaceae

Where found

subsp. albicans:  Forest, shrubland, and rocky slopes. Widespread.

subsp. tomentosa:  Mallee communities. Western Slopes north of Cootamundra.

Notes

Shrub to 3 m high, greyish or whitish. Branches hairy, with mainly much-branched or stellate whitish hairs and glandular hairs. Leaves alternating up the stems, mostly 0.5–1.7 cm long, 1.5–7 mm wide, tomentose. Juvenile leaves to 13 cm long and to 40 mm wide. Flowers 6–22 mm long, white, cream or pale yellow, with purple stripes, tubular, with 5 lobes each 3–5 mm long. Flowers in dense leafy branched clusters. Flowers Spring-Summer.

subsp. albicans:  Branches and leaves hairy, the longest hairs usually 0.3–0.8 mm long. Leaves mostly 0.6–1.5 cm long, 1.5–7 mm wide, sometimes larger. Flowers white to creamy-white, 6.5–13 mm long, hairless to moderately hairy outside with simple hairs.

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

Rare Vic.

subsp. tomentosa:  Branches and leaves hairy, the hairs usually less than 0.3 mm long. Leaves mostly 0.5–1.7 cm long, 3–6 mm wide, sometimes larger. Flowers yellow or pale yellow, 8–19 mm long, sparsely to moderately hairy outside with non-glandular and/or glandular hairs.

PlantNET description of species and key to subspecies:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Cyphanthera~albicans (accessed 10 January, 2021)