Helichrysum brassii Brenan

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Photo: Bart Wursten
Southern Loop, Nyika National Park

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Synonyms:
Common names:
Frequency:
Status:	Native
Description:	Perennial or sometimes annual herb, up to 50 cm tall, with erect stems branching from the base or sometimes simple, mostly hairless, brownish or purplish but densely white woolly towards the base. Leaves along the stems, sessile and clasping the stems at the base, oblanceolate, up to 5 cm long, becoming smaller and more lanceolate towards the top of the stems, green above, often with some purplish pubescence, densely white-woolly beneath. Capitula terminal, up to 1.3 cm wide, solitary or in inflorescences of 2-5 capitula.Involucral bracts c. 7 seriate, yellow with outer bracts blackish-green-tipped. Florets yellow.
Type location:	Mulanje, Malawi
Notes:	The occurrence of this species in Mozambique needs more investigation since the type of var. aggregatum is said to come from Namuli in Mozambique but that taxon is otherwise only cited from Nyika in northern Malawi while var. brassii has been found on nearby Mt Mulanje in southern Malawi but is stated to only found there. Three varieties have been described. Var. brassii is distinguished by the much-branched perennial habit with solitary capitula on long peduncles; var. aggregatum Brenan has inflorescences with 2-5 capitula and var. tenellum Brenan is an annual more slender herb with simple or branched stems and inflorescences with 2-5 capitula.
Derivation of specific name:	brassii: after Leonard John Brass (1900-1971), Australian/American botanist, botanical collector and explorer, associate curator of the Archbold Expedition collections with the American Museum of Natural History.
Habitat:	Montane Grassland.
Altitude range: (metres)
Flowering time:
Worldwide distribution:	Only known from Malawi and possibly Mozambique.
National distribution:	Z
Growth form(s):
Endemic status:	Near Endemic
Red data list status:
Insects associated with this species:
Spot characters:	Display spot characters for this species
Images last updated:	Wednesday 26 September 2018
Literature:	Burrows, J.E. & Willis, C.K. (eds) (2005). Plants of the Nyika Plateau Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 31 SABONET, Pretoria Page 95. Strugnell, A.M. (2006). A Checklist of the Spermatophytes of Mount Mulanje, Malawi Scripta Botanica Belgica 34 National Botanic Garden of Belgium Page 53. Wild, H. (Undated, c. 1980?). A draft revision of Helichrysum Mill. for Flora Zambesiaca Unpublished ms. Pages 109 - 110.

Other sources of information about Helichrysum brassii:

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Flora of Malawi: Helichrysum brassii

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Helichrysum brassii
African Plant Database: Helichrysum brassii
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Helichrysum brassii
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Helichrysum brassii
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Helichrysum brassii
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Helichrysum brassii
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Helichrysum brassii
JSTOR Plant Science: Helichrysum brassii
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Helichrysum brassii
Plants of the World Online: Helichrysum brassii
Tropicos: Helichrysum brassii
Wikipedia: Helichrysum brassii