''Cassinia arcuata'', commonly known as drooping cassinia, biddy bush, Chinese scrub, sifton bush and Chinese shrub, is a species of flowering plant in the family

Asteraceae The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae ...

and is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

to Australia. It is a shrub, sometimes a small tree with

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

, linear leaves, and heads of up to two hundred brownish flowers arranged in pyramid-shaped

panicle A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is ...

s. In New South Wales, the species is known as ''

Cassinia sifton ''Cassinia sifton'', commonly known as sifton bush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae and is endemic to south-eastern continental Australia and an introduced species in other places. It is a multi-stemmed shrub with linea ...

''. In disturbed areas, ''C. arcuata'' can become weedy.

Description

''Cassinia arcuata'' is a densely-branched, erect shrub or small tree that typically grows to a height of but sometimes to , with densely cottony-hairy branches and sometimes a curry-like aroma. The leaves are linear, long and wide with the edges rolled under. Up to two hundred heads are arranged in pyramid-shaped panicles long with

involucral bracts In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, ...

about long in four whorls around each of two or three brownish

florets This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary o ...

. Flowering mostly occurs from January to May and the

achenes An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not op ...

are long with a pappus of twenty-two to twenty-eight bristles long.

Taxonomy and naming

''Cassinia arcuata'' was first formally described in 1818 by Robert Brown in ''

Transactions of the Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature coll ...

''. ''Cassinia sifton''

Orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of la ...

has been confused with ''C. arcuata'' and the National Herbarium of New South Wales lists only ''C. sifton'' as occurring in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was launched in March 2017 with the ultimate aim being "to enable users to access information on all the world's known seed-bearing plants ...

list both species as occurring in New South Wales.

Richard Hind Cambage Richard Hind Cambage (7 November 1859 – 28 November 1928) was an Australian surveyor and botanist who made important contributions to the description of the genera ''Acacia'' and ''Eucalyptus''. Early life Cambage, son of John Fisher Camb ...

used the name "Sifting Bush" for this species in 1902, comparing the fallen florets to "the 'siftings' which are blown away from grain by a winnowing machine". That name has since been corrupted to 'Sifton bush' in the mistaken belief that it referred to a person named Sifton. The

National Herbarium of Victoria The National Herbarium of Victoria (Index Herbariorum code: MEL) is one of Australia's earliest herbaria and the oldest scientific institution in Victoria. Its 1.5 million specimens of preserved plants, fungi and algae—collectively known a ...

considers ''C. sifton'' to be "widespread and common" in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

and that records prior to 2017 refer to that species.

Distribution and habitat

According to the

Australian Plant Census The Australian Plant Census (APC) provides an online interface to currently accepted, published, scientific names of the vascular flora of Australia, as one of the output interfaces of the national government Integrated Biodiversity Information Syst ...

, ''C. arcuata'' occurs in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, New South Wales, the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...

and Victoria. It grows in mallee and woodland, and invades disturbed areas.

Use in horticulture

Drooping cassinia is an easily cultivated plant. It requires well-drained soils, grows in full or partial shade, but does not tolerate salt winds and is not long-lived.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5049443 arcuata Asterales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of South Australia Flora of Victoria (Australia) Eudicots of Western Australia Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)