Leucochrysum albicans subsp. albicans

Hoary Sunray at Whitlam, ACT

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Identification history

Leucochrysum albicans subsp. albicans	17 Sep 2024	MichaelMulvaney
Leucochrysum albicans subsp. albicans	16 Sep 2024	sangio7
Leucochrysum albicans subsp. albicans	16 Sep 2024	sangio7

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5 comments

MichaelMulvaney wrote:

17 Sep 2024

Inner bract are yellow - was this a planting?

sangio7 wrote:

17 Sep 2024

There have been no plantings in that area so that is very unlikely, but it's certainly a weird one. Unfortunately I didn't have a very close look at it when I came across it and it wasn't until I saw the photo that I realised the yellow colour was the inner bracts. I wasn't at all convinced it was Leucochrysum albicans subsp. albicans but couldn't find anything else it might be. I wondered whether the very dry conditions(it's 3 months since we had a fall of rain of more than a handful of mm in a day and most of that spread out across the day, so I was wondering if the colour was caused by the dry conditions (?!?!) - most forbs are looking very stressed. I'll have to wander back and have a closer look. It's a pretty nice corner of the reserve to visit, of course, at the moment enhanced by some large patches of creamy candles for example (photos of those still be to be logged to CNM).

MichaelMulvaney wrote:

17 Sep 2024

@rainer I have a vague memory about talking with you about yellow "sports" amongst a large population of tricolor near Bugendore and you seemed unconvinced re status of sub-species - am I remembering right?

rainer wrote:

17 Sep 2024

The yellow iner bracts are just part of the range of variability in this taxon. The purplish outer bracts marks it very clearly as L. albicans subsp. albicans

sangio7 wrote:

18 Sep 2024

Thanks Michael for chasing this up (and your admirable memory) and Rainer for confirming that this unusual specimen fits the classification. I'll be on the lookout to see if there are more of them in that area.

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