Friday, June 19, 2015

Botany picture #204: Cassinia arcuata


Admittedly Cassinia arcuata (Asteraceae) cannot be counted among the prettiest members of the sunflower family, and despite being native to Australia it is actually a declared noxious weed in the state of New South Wales. Still, it is an interesting plant. As a shrub with large numbers of brownish, few-flowered flower-heads - I can only assume it is wind-pollinated? - and apparently able to quickly come up after fires it has an interesting ecology. It is also strongly aromatic.

The specimen in the picture is part of plantings in the Southern Tablelands Ecosystems Park at the National Arboretum here in Canberra.

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