Common Name

Compact Sneezeweed

Family

Asteraceae

Notes

Aromatic annual or perennial forb to 20cm tall, or mat forming.  Leaves alternating up the stems, flat, almost hairless to hairy, resin-dotted, with toothed (rarely entire) edges, and blunt tips.  Flower heads green with 0 petals, cup-shaped to almost globular, single at the bases of the leaves or at the ends of the stems.  Ssp. compacta rare Vic.

Centipeda crateriformis ssp. crateriformis is an annual, and does not root at the nodes, with leaves 0.3-1.2cm long, 2-6mm wide. 

Centipeda crateriformis ssp. compacta is usually a perennial, rooting at the nodes, with leaves 0.4-1.4cm long, 1-3.5mm wide. Rare Vic.

Differs from Centipeda thespidioides in that the flower heads are flattened hemispherical to bowl-shaped, often slightly domed on top. 

Description, line drawings, and photos in Walsh, N.G. (2001) A revision of Centipeda (Asteraceae). Muelleria 15 : pages 58-62, Figs 3a, 5d, 5e, 7d, 7e, and 11 (map). This paper can be downloaded from http://www.anbg.gov.au/cgi-bin/apni after searching on Craspedia crateriformis.

Photo of flowering plant (ssp. crateriformis) with spent flowers. Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Murray Fagg, NW of Innaminka, SA