Lagenophora is a genus of small flowering herbs in the daisy family Asteraceae, order Asterales. The genus comprises around 20 recognised species with a remarkably disjunct distribution spanning Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and the southern cone of South America (Argentina and Chile, including the Juan Fernández Islands).
Plants are rosette-forming perennial herbs, usually stoloniferous, meaning they spread by horizontal runners along the ground. The flower heads are hemispherical and borne singly on unbranched scapes (leafless flower stalks) — a distinctive habit that gives the plants a delicate, daisy-like appearance. Involucral bracts (the leaf-like structures surrounding the flower head) are numerous, herbaceous with scarious (papery) margins, and arranged in several overlapping series. The receptacle is naked, flat or convex.
Each flower head contains two floret types: the outer ray florets are female and fertile, ligulate (strap-shaped), and arranged in 2–4 rows; the inner disc florets are fewer in number, bisexual but functionally sterile, tubular and 5-toothed. Anthers are obtuse at the base with a lanceolate apical appendage. Achenes (the one-seeded fruits) are compressed, bearing marginal ridges and a distinct apical beak, and lack a pappus (feathery bristles present in many Asteraceae relatives).
Among the most widespread species is Lagenophora stipitata, commonly known as blue bottle-daisy or common lagenophora, which ranges from Australia and New Zealand through Southeast Asia and China to the Indian Subcontinent. Lagenophora sublyrata shares a similarly broad range across the Southern Hemisphere and Asia. Several species are endemic to New Zealand, while others are restricted to Australia or the South American Andes.
Distribution
Lagenophora has a broadly disjunct distribution spanning Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and Central and South America (Argentina and Chile, including the Juan Fernández Islands). Several species are widespread across multiple continents, notably L. stipitata (Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, China, Indian Subcontinent) and L. sublyrata (Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, China, Japan, Indian Subcontinent), while others are endemic to single countries or island groups such as New Caledonia (L. sinuosa) and Japan (L. mikadoi).
Taxonomy Notes
The genus was formerly also treated under the name Lagenifera Cass. (a synonym now referred to Lagenophora). GBIF recognises 16 accepted descendants. The genus belongs to the family Asteraceae (tribe Astereae) within order Asterales, class Magnoliopsida.
