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Dictionary Definition

strawflower

Noun

1 plant of southern and southeastern United States grown for its yellow flowers that can be dried [syn: cornflower, Uvularia grandiflora]
2 any of various plants of the genus Helipterum
3 Australian plant naturalized in Spain having flowers of lemon yellow to deep gold; the choice everlasting of dried-flower lovers [syn: golden everlasting, yellow paper daisy, Helichrysum bracteatum]

Extensive Definition

The genus Helichrysum consists of an estimated 600 species, in the sunflower family (Asteraceae). The type species is Helichrysum orientale.
The name is derived from the Greek words helisso (to turn around) and chrysos (gold). Common names include strawflower and everlasting.
It occurs in Africa (with 244 species in South Africa), Madagascar, Australasia and Eurasia. The plants may be annuals, herbaceous perennials or shrubs, growing to a height of 60-90 cm.
Their leaves are oblong to lanceolate. They are flat and pubescent on both sides. The bristles of the pappus are scabrous, barbellate, or plumose.
The receptacle (base of the flower head) is often smooth, with a fringed margin, or honey-combed, and resemble daisies. They may be in almost all colors, except blue. There are many capitula and generally flat-topped corymbs or panicles. The corolla lobes show glandular hairs at the abaxial surface.
Several species are grown as ornamental plants, and for dried flowers. When cut young and dried, the open flowers and stalks preserve their colour and shape for long periods.
Helichrysum species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the bucculaticid leaf-miners Bucculatrix gnaphaliella (which feeds exclusively on Helichrysum arenarium) and Bucculatrix helichrysella (feeds exclusively on H. italicum) and the Coleophora case-bearers C. caelebipennella, C. gnaphalii (feeds exclusively on H arenarium) and C. helichrysiella (feeds exclusively on H. italicum).

Species

Hilllard (1983) divided this large and heterogeneous genus in 30 morphological groups. But this genus is controversial and is considered by many as an artificial genus. The taxonomy of the large polymorphic and probably polyphyletic Helichrysum genus is complex and not yet satisfactorily resolved. Several Australian species, such as H. acuminatum and H. bracteatum, have been reclassified in the genus Xerochrysum in 1991, resp. as X. subundulatum and X. bracteatum. In 1989, misaligned species of Helichrysum were reclassified in Syncarpha. Species included in Pseudognaphalium are probably congeneric with Helichrysum. In 2004, A. Miller identified five potentially new species that have not yet been published but were included in the IUCN Red List data, given their restricted range in Yemen. They are as follows:
  • Helichrysum sp. nov. A - Its natural habitat is rocky areas. It was given a status of "Vulnerable" by the IUCN.
  • Helichrysum sp. nov. B - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and rocky areas. It was given a status of "Vulnerable".
  • Helichrysum sp. nov. C - Its natural habitat is rocky areas. It is threatened by habitat loss. It was given a status of "Endangered".
  • Helichrysum sp. nov. D - Its natural habitat is rocky areas. It was given a status of "Endangered".
  • Helichrysum sp. nov. E - Its natural habitat is rocky areas. It was given a status of "Data deficient".
Established species include:
thumb|250px|Helichrysum umbraculigerum

References

  • HILLIARD, O. 1983. Flora of Southern Africa, Part 7 Inuleae, Fascicle 2 Gnaphaliinae. Government Printer, Pretoria, South Africa.
  • WILSON, P.G. 1992c. The classification of some Australian species currently included in elipterum and Helichrysum (Asteraceae: Gnaphalieae): part 3 Anemocarpa and Argentipallium, two new genera from Australia. Nuytsia 8: 447–460.
  • Mesfin Tadesse & Reilly, T. 1995. 17. A contribution to studies on Helichrysum (Compositae - Gnaphalieae) - a revision of the species of north-east tropical Africa. In: Advances in Compositae Systematics (eds. D.J.H. Hind, C. Jeffrey & G.V. Pope). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, pp. 379-450.

External links

strawflower in German: Strohblumen
strawflower in Spanish: Helichrysum
strawflower in French: Immortelle commune
strawflower in Italian: Helichrysum
strawflower in Lithuanian: Šlamutis
strawflower in Polish: Kocanki
strawflower in Portuguese: Helichrysum
strawflower in Romanian: Helichrysum
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