Achyrocline flaccida

Tilcayo Cats original · Plants · Sources and editorial assessment · Originals retention rule

Achyrocline flaccida is a South American flowering plant in the daisy family, Asteraceae. Kew records its native range in parts of Venezuela, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina. The older name Gnaphalium flaccidum was published in 1820.

Appearance and habitat

The Brazilian flora describes plants about forty to eighty centimetres tall, with sprawling or rising stems covered in woolly hairs. Alternate leaves narrow gradually towards the base, sometimes forming a stalk-like portion. The leaves are three to fourteen centimetres long and usually woollier beneath.

Numerous yellow to rusty flower heads form compact clusters. Each small head contains a few narrow female flowers and one or two bisexual flowers. The tiny dry fruits carry white bristles.

In Brazil the flora associates the species especially with open Pampa vegetation and woodland edges, while also recording it in other vegetation types.

Population research

A study published in 2017 examined DNA from 131 plants in seven populations in the grassland and forest mosaic of southern Brazil. It found genetic differences among populations, although most of the measured variation occurred between individuals within populations.

The researchers used DNA markers known as ISSRs after finding that markers borrowed from other species performed poorly. Their results supported the existence of several genetic groups within the sampled area.

The study discusses human movement of harvested flower and fruit material as a possible influence on seed dispersal. This is an explanation proposed by the authors, not a demonstrated route for every population. The genetic survey does not establish a present-day, range-wide conservation status.