Plants of
South Australia
Spyridium eriocephalum
Rhamnaceae
Heath Spyridium
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Adelaide
Arkaroola
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Coober Pedy
Hawker
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Botanical art

Kath Alcock paintings: 6

Prior names

Spyridium eriocephalum var. eriocephalum, partly

Etymology

Spyridium from the Greek 'spyridion' meaning a small basket, referring to the flower-heads which are circled by leafy bracts. Eriocephalum from the Greek 'erion' meaning woolly and 'cephalum' meaning head, referring to its woolly fruit-heads.

Distribution and status

In South Australia it is found in the Murray Mallee, east of the Mt Lofty Ranges with scattered occurrences north of Adelaide, in Stansbury Scrub on Yorke Peninsula and one record from near Kingscote on Kangaroo Island, growing in mallee scrub, woodland and heathland, usually in sandy soils and sand with outcropping rocks or rocky gravel. Also found in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. Native. Common in South Australia. Very rare in Tasmania. Common in the other states.
Herbarium regions: Northern Lofty, Murray, Yorke Peninsula, Southern Lofty, Kangaroo Island, South Eastern
NRM regions: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, Eyre Peninsula, Kangaroo Island, Northern and Yorke, South Australian Murray-Darling Basin, South East
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Shrub to 1.8 m high with densely pubescent with white to rusty loosely appressed to spreading stellate hairs on young branches. Leaves alternate with stipules triangular to broadly triangular, to 4 mm long, fused for more than half of its length to almost entirely, reddish-brown, glabrous or with hairs along midrib and ciliate towards apex. Lamina very narrowly ovate to linear, to 14 mm long and 1.6 mm wide, base obtuse to cuneate, or cordate, margins strongly recurved to revolute, apex acute to acuminate, ending in a long brown recurved tip, upper surface glabrous, smooth to muricate, lower surface largely obscured by margins, with dense white stellate hairs, midrib also with long appressed white simple hairs. Inflorescence a dense axillary or terminal head with funnel white flowers. Flowering between August and November. The species is similar to Spyridium phylicoides and S. leucopogon but differs in the absence of white floral leaves and narrower, almost linear vegetative leaves with a distinctly recurved tip. Fruits are dark brown head with numerous seed capsules. Seeds are light brown, mottled, ellipsoid to 1.5 mm long and 1 mm wide, with a smooth surface. Seed embryo type is spatulate fully developed.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between October and December. Collect fruit heads that are darkening and have a fluffy appearance. Rub the flower parts in your palm to see if there is any seed, which should be light brown and hard. Place the heads in a tray and leave to dry for a week. Then rub the heads with your hands or a rubber bung to dislodge the seeds. Use a sieve to separate the unwanted material. 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 but seed production can be low. This species has morphophysiological dormancy that need to be overcome for the seed to germinate.