Cassinia cunninghamii, commonly known as Cunninghams everlasting,[2] is a plant native to central New South Wales in eastern Australia.

Cassinia cunninghamii
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Cassinia
Species:
C. cunninghamii
Binomial name
Cassinia cunninghamii
Synonyms[1]
  • Cassinia patens DC. nom. inval., pro syn.
  • Helichrysum cunninghamii (DC.) Benth.

Description

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Cassinia cunninghamii is a small shrub 1–2 m (3 ft 3 in – 6 ft 7 in) high with woolly stems and whitish hairs. The leaves are crowded on the stems 20–35 mm (0.79–1.38 in) long and 1–1.5 mm (0.039–0.059 in) wide, the edges rolled under and ending in a sharp point at the tip. The leaf upper surface is dark green and rough with fine short hairs. The underside densely covered with long white matted hairs. The inflorescence is a thick corymb 2–8 cm (0.79–3.15 in) in diameter, each yellow flower about 3 mm (0.12 in) long and about 1 mm (0.039 in) in diameter. The overlapping bracts are in longitudinal rows of 3 or 4, broadly rounded and translucent brown. The dry, one seeded fruit are 0.5 mm (0.020 in) long and smooth.[2][3]

Taxonomy and naming

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Cassinia cunninghamii was first formally described in 1838 by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle and the description was published in Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis.[4][5] The specific epithet cunninghamii honours the botanical collector Allan Cunningham.[6]

Distribution and habitat

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Cunninghams everlasting grows on sandstone in dry sclerophyll forest mostly from the upper Hunter Region to Nowra and west to Newnes in New South Wales.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Cassinia cunninghamii". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  2. ^ a b c J. Everett. "New South Wales Flora Online: Cassinia cunninghamii". Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust, Sydney, Australia.
  3. ^ Fairley, Alan; Moore, Philip (2010). Native Plants of the Sydney Region. Jacana Books. ISBN 978-1-74175-571-8.
  4. ^ "Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis". Biodiversity Heritage Library. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  5. ^ "Cassinia cunninghamii". Australian Plant Name Index. 1 January 2020.
  6. ^ Sharr, Francis Aubie (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and their Meanings. Kardinya Western Australia: Four Gables Press. p. 175. ISBN 9780958034180.