Plants of
South Australia
Cotula australis
Asteraceae
Australian Waterbuttons,
Common Cotula,
Carrot Weed
Display all 18 images
Regional Species Conservation Assessments per IBRA subregion.
Least concern
Near threatened
Rare
Vulnerable
Endangered
Critically endangered
Extinct
Data deficient
Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
Marla
Marree
Mount Gambier
Oodnadatta
Renmark
Wudinna
Keith
Yunta
Enlarge Map
Copy Map
Copy Map
Display IBRA region text

Botanical art

Kath Alcock paintings: 2

Prior names

Anacyclus australis

Common names

Australian Waterbuttons

Common Cotula

Carrot Weed

Etymology

Cotula from the Medieval Latin 'cotula', which is from the Greek 'kotyle' meaning a small cup; referring to the shape of the involucre. Australis meaning of or from the south, or Australia, alluding to its more southern distribution.

Distribution and status

Found in the southern part of South Australia, growing in open grassy vegetation near water. Also found in all states. May be introduced in the Northern Territory. Native. Common in South Australia. Common in the other states. Introduced in the Northern Territory.
Herbarium regions: Flinders Ranges, Eyre Peninsula, Northern Lofty, Murray, Yorke Peninsula, Southern Lofty, Kangaroo Island, South Eastern, Green Adelaide
NRM regions: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, Eyre Peninsula, Kangaroo Island, Northern and Yorke, South Australian Arid Lands, South Australian Murray-Darling Basin, South East
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Ascending annual or short-lived perennial to 10 cm high with weak stems rooting at nodes. Leaves obovate to oblanceolate in outline, to 40 mm long and 10 mm wide, 1-2-pinnatisect, attenuate at base, sparsely to densely hairy. Flower heads to 6 mm diameter, terminal and axillary with yellow-green daisy flower. Flowering between July and November. Fruits are dense pale brown daisy head. Seeds are two types of seeds, pale brown ovoid seed to 2.5 mm long and 2 mm wide with a thick wing along the margin and dark brown ovoid seed to 1.7 mm long and 0.8 mm wide with no wing. Seed embryo type is spatulate.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between October and February. Collect heads that are drying off and turning brown, mature seeds should fall off easily. Place the heads in a tray for a week to dry. Then rub the heads gently with your hands or a rubber bung to dislodge the seeds. Use a sieve to separate the unwanted material. Be careful as the seeds are very small. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place. Seed viability is usually high. Seeds are non-dormant, viable seed should germinate readily.

Seeds stored:
  Hide
LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)
Number
of plants
Date
collected
Collection number
Collection location
Date
stored
% ViabilityStorage
temperature
BGA 
MSB
11,700 (1.36 g)
11,700 (1.36 g)
501-Oct-2007RJB74639
South Eastern
19-Sep-2008100%-18°C
BGA15,000 (1.37 g)50+8-Oct-2008DJD1253
Kangaroo Island
20-Jul-2009100%-18°C
Location: BGA — the seeds are stored at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, MSB — the seeds are stored at the Millennium Seed Bank, Kew, England.
Number of plants: This is the number of plants from which the seeds were collected.
Collection location: The Herbarium of South Australia's region name.
% Viability: Percentage of filled healthy seeds determined by a cut test or x-ray.