About Ammobium alatum R.Br.
Ammobium alatum R.Br. is a species of perennial herb, occasionally an annual, that typically grows to a height of 60–100 cm (24–39 in). It has winged, woolly-hairy, usually much-branched stems. Most of its leaves are located at the base of the plant, and are narrow egg-shaped to narrow triangular. The basal leaves are 40–60 mm (1.6–2.4 in) long and 10–15 mm (0.39–0.59 in) wide, growing on a petiole 70–100 mm (2.8–3.9 in) long. A few sessile, bract-like leaves grow on the stems. Its flower heads are 10–20 mm (0.39–0.79 in) wide, with bright yellow florets that become darker as they age; the corolla of each floret is about 5 mm (0.20 in) long. The florets are surrounded by papery, white involucral bracts 5–10 mm (0.20–0.39 in) long with jagged edges. Flowering occurs mainly from November to April. This species produces dark brown, linear, wrinkled cypselas, with an awn up to 1 mm (0.039 in) long. Commonly called winged everlasting, it often grows in disturbed environments such as roadsides and agricultural land, and sometimes grows on riverbanks when its seeds are carried there from disturbed areas. Records of this species growing in natural habitats come from eucalypt forests on plateaus and rocky cliffs in northern New South Wales, river banks of the upper Snowy River in Victoria, the Northern Tablelands and North West Slopes of New South Wales, and south-east Queensland. In 1804, Robert Brown recorded the species growing plentifully near the shores of Port Hunter, also called the Coal River, in New South Wales. This species is naturalised in South Australia, the Australian Capital Territory, Tasmania, and in locations outside its natural range within New South Wales.
