Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Rhodanthe anthemoides
Chamomile Sunray
Asteraceae
Dry forest, grassy areas, alpine herbfields, and rocky areas. Common after fire or disturbance. Western Slopes, Kosciuszko National Park, the mountains to the north, ACT, tablelands, and ranges. Coastal in the Sydney area, and occasionally farther south.
Perennial herb to 0.4 m high with a woody rootstock. Stems slender and wiry, hairless to sparsely hairy, often sticky hairy below the flower heads. Leaves alternating up the stems to almost opposite each other, often crowded, 0.4-2 cm long, 0.5–2 mm wide, thick, somewhat glaucous, conspicuously pitted with sunken glands, margins and midrib with scattered, stalked glandular hairs, tips pointed. Flower heads 20-30 mm in diameter overall, broadly top-shaped to hemispherical below the 'petals'. Outer ‘petals’ pale brown with a purple midrib, dry and membranous, inner ’petals’ 6-10 mm long, papery, white, sometimes with a dark spot at the base. Centres yellow. Flower heads single. Flowering: spring-summer.
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=Rhodanthe~anthemoides (accessed 25 April 2021)
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