Bedfordia is a small genus of flowering shrubs and small trees in the daisy family (Asteraceae), comprising three species all endemic to Australia. The genus was first formally described by the Swiss botanist Augustin Pyramus de Candolle in 1833, in the second volume of Archives de Botanique, and is named in honour of John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford.
Plants in this genus are recognisable by their densely hairy foliage: young branches, the undersides of leaves, and the bracts surrounding the flower heads are covered with short, matted, stellate (star-shaped) hairs — a characteristic giving rise to the common name "blanket leaf." Leaves are alternate (arranged first on one side then the other along the branch), with entire or irregularly scalloped margins and distinct leaf stalks.
Flower heads are small and tubular, gathered into dense, axillary branched clusters that are shorter than the adjacent leaves. Each head is disc-shaped and surrounded by a hairy bract at the base; the florets are tubular and bisexual. Fruits are cylindrical, grooved, hairless achenes bearing a pappus of finely toothed bristles roughly twice the length of the achene.
The three species are Bedfordia arborescens (tree blanket leaf, eastern Australia), Bedfordia linearis (slender blanket leaf, Tasmania), and Bedfordia salicina (blanket leaf, Tasmania). B. salicina is known to intergrade with both B. arborescens and B. linearis, reflecting the close morphological relationships within the genus.
Etymology
The genus name Bedfordia honours John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford. It was formally established by the Swiss botanist Augustin Pyramus de Candolle in 1833, published in the second volume of Archives de Botanique.
Distribution
All three species of Bedfordia are endemic to Australia. Bedfordia arborescens occurs in eastern Australia, while Bedfordia linearis and Bedfordia salicina are both restricted to Tasmania.
Taxonomy Notes
The genus was described by de Candolle in 1833 and belongs to the family Asteraceae (Compositae). It contains three accepted species. Bedfordia salicina is known to intergrade with B. arborescens and B. linearis, indicating morphological continuity across the species boundary. GBIF records 3 descendant taxa under the accepted genus name.
