Brachyscome

Western Australia

Habit, vegetative morphology. Divaricate rooted or rhizomatous, prostrate or erect, annual or perennial, herbs. Leaves basal or cauline or basal and cauline, rosulate or not rosulate, alternate, simple. Leaf blades divided or entire, when divided pinnatisect (or lobed), glabrous or more or less hairy (tomentose to stipitate-glandular); hairs glandular or eglandular; margins entire to lobate. Inflorescence. Plants gynomonoecious. Unit inflorescences solitary or arranged in synflorescences, synfloresences scapiform or corymbiform, heads not forming compound heads. Capitular involucre rounded (campanulate to hemispheric). Capitula radiate, heterogamous, heterochromous or homochromous (rarely), borne either on a scape or peduncle arising from a branching stem; radially symmetrical florets in centre of capitulum only, bilaterally symmetrical florets radiating. Involucral bracts uniseriate to multiseriate, 1–3 seriate, subequal, entire or fimbriate, herbaceous (margins narrowly hyaline), not fenestrate, glabrous or hairy (shortly glandular or woolly). Receptacles slightly to very steeply convex or conical, glabrous, epaleate (pitted or unpitted). Marginal florets. Marginal florets numerous, bilaterally symmetrical, true ray, functionally female, 1–2 seriate, white or blue or purple or pink or yellow (occasionally). Disc florets. Inner (central or disc) florets numerous, mostly bisexual. Corolla tubular (with limb narrowly campanulate), yellow, 5 lobed, lobes shallow (triangular to narrowly ovate), lobes spreading or recurved. Stamens of male fertile florets. Stamens 5. Tip appendages present or lacking (rarely), lanceolate. Base appendages obtuse. Styles of female fertile florets. Style branches linear to lanceolate. Style branch appendages present; acute, or acuminate, or obtuse; narrowly to broadly triangular; adaxially glabrous; shorter than stigmatic areas. Sweeping-hairs scattered dorsally along branches. Stigmatic area separated into two ventro-marginal bands along each style branch. Fruit. Achenes terete to flattened, commonly winged or wingless, sometimes marginally ribbed or not ribbed, not beaked, circle of scales at summit present or absent, with the seed in the upper portion, duplex hairs present or absent (glabrous, setulose, glandular or tuberculate). Pappus present (highly reduced) or absent, uniseriate, squamate (with small white scales). Testa smooth (and glabrous), or tuberculate, or setuliferous.

Distribution. C. 70 species in Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand and New Caledonia. 21 species in WA.

Etymology. Greek brachys short + comē hair; referring to the short tufted pappus.

Additional Notes. One species currently recognised at PERTH remains undescribed and is not included in this key, namely Brachyscome sp. Wanna Munna Flats (S. van Leeuwin 4662). B. ciliocarpa and B. oncocarpa may prove to be conspecific (Short 1988: 395).

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