Gomphocarpus fruticosus subsp. fruticosus

Taxonomic status Accepted
Occurrence status Present
Origin Introduced
Degree of establishment Naturalised

Shrub to 2 m high; stems few, pubescent, glabrescent with age. Leaves opposite, sometimes alternate, linear-lanceolate, 4–12 cm long, 5–15 mm wide, apex acuminate, mucronate, base attenuate, margins thickened, soft, not prominently veined, glabrous; petiole 3–10 mm long. Inflorescences usually 5–10-flowered; peduncles mostly 2–4 cm long, erect, scabrous. Pedicels 10–20 mm long, scabrous, erect at anthesis, deflexed in fruit; sepals ovate-lanceolate, 3–5 mm long, free almost to base, pubescent; corolla-lobes ovate, 6–7 mm long, ciliate, white; corona-lobes incurved, white. Follicles ovoid, 4–6 cm long, 2–3.5 cm diam., slightly falcate, tapering into a short curved beak, erect at maturity, covered with soft spines to c. 1 cm long; seeds c. 6 mm long, c. 3 mm wide, coma hairs c. 3 cm long. Flowers Oct.–May.

MuM, Wim, VVP, VRiv, MuF, GipP, OtP, Gold, CVU, NIS, EGU. An occasional weed of disturbed sites such as roadsides, pasture and waterways. Grown as an ornamental and as a food plant for the Wanderer Butterfly, Danaus plexippus.

Created by: Andre Messina, 8 Nov. 2016
Updated by: Daniel Ohlsen, 2 May 2017
Gomphocarpus fruticosus subsp. fruticosus (distribution map) Spinning