Actinotus is a genus of approximately 18 species of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae (subfamily Mackinlayoideae), placed within the order Apiales. The genus is native to Australasia, with the great majority of species endemic to Australia and one species, Actinotus novae-zelandiae, occurring in New Zealand. Its closest relative is Apiopetalum from New Caledonia.
Plants in the genus are characterized by their daisy-like flowerheads surrounded by soft, woolly bracts that give the appearance of petals — a feature most strikingly expressed in the best-known member, Actinotus helianthi, commonly called the flannel flower. The flannel flower is a familiar sight in the bushland around Sydney during spring. Other notable members include Actinotus schwarzii, found in the Macdonnell Ranges of Central Australia and closely resembling A. helianthi, and the rare Actinotus forsythii, which produces pink flowers and is restricted to the Blue Mountains of New South Wales.
The genus was established by the French botanist Jacques Labillardière, who described A. helianthi in the first volume of his Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen. The provenance of the type specimen is historically uncertain: according to historian Edward Duyker, Labillardière could not have collected it personally and may have received it from Jean-Baptiste Leschenault de La Tour, a botanist on the expedition of Nicolas Baudin, or from another early French visitor to New South Wales.
Etymology
The genus name Actinotus is derived from the Greek stem aktin- (ακτιν-), meaning "ray" or "sunbeam," and translates loosely as "furnished with rays" — a reference to the radiating woolly bracts that surround the flowerheads.
Distribution
Actinotus is native to Australasia. Most of its approximately 18 species are endemic to Australia, where the genus ranges from the coastal bushland of New South Wales (notably the Sydney region and Blue Mountains) to the arid interior of Central Australia (Macdonnell Ranges). One species, Actinotus novae-zelandiae, is native to New Zealand.
Taxonomy Notes
Actinotus belongs to the family Apiaceae, subfamily Mackinlayoideae, order Apiales. Its closest relative is Apiopetalum from New Caledonia. The genus was formally established by Jacques Labillardière based on A. helianthi, described in his Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen (vol. 1, p. 67).
