Cassinia macrocephala is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae and is endemic to northern New South Wales. It is a shrub with narrow linear leaves and spherical, white to cream-coloured or yellowish-green heads.
Cassinia macrocephala is a shrub that typically grows to a height of 1–2 m (3 ft 3 in – 6 ft 7 in) with a few erect stems. The leaves are narrow linear, 20–70 mm (0.79–2.76 in) long and 0.7–2.0 mm (0.028–0.079 in) wide, depending on subspecies. The flowers heads are spherical, white to cream-soloured or yellowish-green and arranged on a peduncle, each head with five to seventeen white florets surrounded by involucral bracts. The achenes are purplish brown, about 1 mm (0.039 in) long with a pappus of 20 to 27 barbed bristles about 2 mm (0.079 in) long.[2]
Cassinia macrocephala was first formally described in 2004 by Anthony Edward Orchard in Australian Systematic Botany from specimens collected near Moonbi in 2004.[3] The specific epithet (macrocephala) means "large-headed".[4]
In the same journal, Orchard described two subspecies and in 2006 two further subspecies in a later edition of Australian Systematic Botany, and the names of the four subspecies are accepted by the Australian Plant Census:
This species of Cassinia grows on granite soils in forest in New South Wales.[2] Subspecies macrocaphala occurs on the Northern Tablelands,[6] subsp. petrapendula is only found in a restricted area near Nundle,[8] and subsp. storyi is only known from the type location near Coolah Tops[10] and subsp. tenuis near Inverell.[12]
Cassinia macrocephala is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae and is endemic to northern New South Wales. It is a shrub with narrow linear leaves and spherical, white to cream-coloured or yellowish-green heads.
