Cassinia sifton

Sifton Bush, Chinese Shrub at Farrer, ACT

Request use of media

Identification history

Cassinia sifton	29 Aug 2022	Tapirlord
Cassinia arcuata	28 Aug 2022	julielindner
Cassinia sifton	27 Aug 2022	Tapirlord

Identify this sighting

Please Login or Register to identify this sighting.

User's notes

Around 5 plants, I know of another 5-10 plants dotted sporadically in this area

10 comments

Tapirlord wrote:

29 Aug 2022

This has been known as Cassinia arcuata, but Cassinia sifton is the name that CNM uses

julielindner wrote:

30 Aug 2022

who invented that? The census of plants of the ACT contains no such name.

Tapirlord wrote:

30 Aug 2022

A little confused as to why you've said that, the census of plants has Cassinia sifton but not Cassinia arcuata, it records it as non-local to the ACT which is interesting and something that i'll have to chase up. The name Cassinia sifton was first published in 2017 I believe.

julielindner wrote:

30 Aug 2022

No I said the ACT Census has C.arcuata and not C.sifton. As a member of the Plant Society we have comprehensive recordings of plants found in the ACT over 20 or so years from our Wednesday walks and it's only in the last few years it is turning up here. It is very weedy in the Mcleods Creek Nature Reserve at Gundaroo.

Tapirlord wrote:

30 Aug 2022

Please check the census again then, the 2019 version has Cassinia sifton rather than Cassinia arcuata. I am with the ANPC also, so might go have a look at those records. I'll send Michael and email with regard to changing the status of this species on CNM.

Mike wrote:

30 Aug 2022

This does not look like the Cassinia sifton Cassinia sifton (Sifton Bush, Chinese Shrub) I reported today. The old name was Cassinia arcuata but either the name was changed or the species was split. A few years ago CNM accidentally merged C. arcuata with C. aculeata and this was probably the time of the name change. C. sifton is a native to NSW but farmers call it a weed; the status should not be changed.

Mike wrote:

30 Aug 2022

NSW Flora Online (Plantnet) says under Cassinia 'Cassinia arcuata probably does not occur in NSW although there is a specimen from the Murray River collected by Ferdinand Mueller with no further information. What we thought was Cassinia arcuata is Cassinia sifton, the Sifton Bush or Chinese shrub.' Under Cassinia sifton it says 'There has been a long history of confusion between the names Cassinia arcuata and C. sifton, sometimes identified also as C. theodorii. In the 20th century it was proclaimed a noxious weed under the name of Cassinia arcuata. C. sifton has red flowers and an elongate spike inflorescence; C. arcuata has white flowers and a pyramidal and dense inforescence.'

julielindner wrote:

30 Aug 2022

That is correct C. arcuata in the ACT has white flowers and a horrible smell. I close my case.

Mike wrote:

30 Aug 2022

Kangaroos like the smell of Cassinia sifton. NSW Weedwise says 'When the bushes are bruised the plant emits a distinctive curry or coffee-like aroma.'

Tapirlord wrote:

31 Aug 2022

Mike, both plants are Cassinia sifton, yours is pretty typical but this one looks a little weird, it took me a second when I came across it. I note that Meredith Cosgrove describes "Cassinia arcuata" as native to the ACT (while clearly presenting photos of C.sifton) in her A photographic guide to native plants of the ACT. I will look into the CNM status. I suspect we shall have to agree to disagree, but I think that we hsould remain consistent with the census of vascular plants and the current literature regarding these two names. I think your description of the situtation sums it up nicely, Mike.

Please Login or Register to comment.