Xerochrysum bracteatum
Xerochrysum bracteatum is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It grows as a woody or herbaceous perennial or annual shrub. Golden yellow or white flower heads are produced from spring to autumn. Their distinctive feature is the papery bracts that resemble petals.
About Xerochrysum bracteatum in brief
Xerochrysum bracteatum is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It grows as a woody or herbaceous perennial or annual shrub up to a metre tall. Golden yellow or white flower heads are produced from spring to autumn. Their distinctive feature is the papery bracts that resemble petals. The species is widespread, growing in a variety of habitats across the country, from rainforest margins to deserts and subalpine areas. The golden everlasting serves as food for various larvae of lepidopterans, and adult butterflies, hoverflies, native bees, small beetles, and grasshoppers visit the flower heads. It was propagated and developed in Germany in the 1850s, and annual cultivars in a host of colour forms from white to bronze to purple are still sold in mixed seed packs. In Australia, many cultivars are perennial shrubs, which have become popular garden plants. Sturdier, long-stemmed forms are used commercially in the cut flower industry. The plant is an everlasting or paper daisy. An alternate name in 19th-century Europe was immortelle. X. bracteatom itself is very variable and may represent several cryptic species.
It is not closely related to X viscosum and X papillosum in cultivation, possibly also C boormani elatum and possibly C boormi elatum in cultivation. XerochRYsum bicolor may be combined with it in future taxonomic revisions. A 2002 molecular study of the two species sampled indicated the genus is probably polyphyic, as X chryletic, Xvosum is not related to each other. It can have a prostrate habit, but generally reaches 20 to 80cm in height, but can be exposed as coastal cliffs as well as inland areas. It has been recorded hybridising with X viscosums, such as Coronas elatum, Coronus elatum or Coronosum elatum. In Europe, Strawflower is the popular name for X bracteatingum in Europe, while in Australia it is known as an everlasting or paperDaisy. The Latin species name Bracteantha bracteata refers to the Papery Bracts of the flower head. In 1990, Russian botanist Nikolai Tzvelev placed X bract Eatingum in the new, and at the time monotypic, genus XeroChrysum the previous year.
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This page is based on the article Xerochrysum bracteatum published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 01, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
