Helichrysum Miller

Herbs, shrubs or undershrubs, often densely white tomentose. Leaves alternate, entire, sometimes basal leaves clustered. Heads heterogamous or homogamous, many, solitary or in dense corymbs. Involucral bracts yellow, dull brown or white, many, scarious. Receptacle flat, naked or with bristly or paleaceous pit margins. Anther base sagfttate with simple or branched tails. Ray florets female, filiform, fertile, minutely toothed. Disc florets bisexual, fertile or rarely sterile, tubular; limb 4-5-lobed. Achenes terete, angled or subcompressed, often papillose-scabrous. Pappus hairs 1-many-seriate, bearded or feathery above.

S. Europe, tropical & S. Africa, Madagascar, S.W. Asia, Sri Lanka, Australia and S. Africa; ca 500 species, 5 in India.

Literature. Literature. BURBRIDGE, N.T. (1958). A monographic study of Helichrysum Subgen. Ozothamus (Compos.) and two related genera formerly included therein. Austr. J. Bot. 6: 229-284. NAMUR. C. de & R. VERLAQUE (1976). Contribution a'l'etude biogeographique du genve Helichrysum Miller. BioI. Ecol. Medit. 3(2): 17-22. RAO, R.S. & U.R. DESHPANDE (1968). Helichrysum cutchicum (C.B . Clarke) R.S. Rao & Desh., an interesting species from Western India. Bull. Bot. Surv. India 10: 225-227. t. 1, fig. 11.

KEY TO THE SPECIES

1a. Plants glabrous; heads large, ca 3.5 cm across

1. Helichrysum bracteatum

b. Plants clothed with cottony tomentum; heads small, ca 4 mm across

2

2a. Stems slender, tufted; leaves I-nerved

3. Helichrysum cutchicum

b. Stems thick, not tufted; leaves many nerved

3

3a. Leaves scattered althrough; achenes scabrid

2. Helichrysum buddleioides

b. Basal leaves in rosette or clustered; achenes scaly

4

4a. Appressed cinnamomeus woolly herbs; leaves recurved at tip. nerves prominently impressed

5. Helichryswn wightii

b. Floccose woolly herbs; leaves not recurved at tip, nerves obscure

4. Helichrysum perlanigerum

List of Lower Taxa