Hoary Sunray (Leucochrysum albicans subsp. tricolor)

Description

• The Hoary Sunray is an everlasting daisy that blooms from October to December.
• It has a yellow inner flowerhead, surrounded by papery white petal-like bracts that sometimes have red shades at the outer layers.
• It’s a different subspecies to Leucochrysum albicans subsp. albicans due to its white petal-like bracts.
• After flowering, the plant dies back in summer, but its roots survive, allowing it to live up to 15 years.

Find out more about the Hoary Sunray on Canberra NatureMapr.

Where are they

The Hoary Sunray is found only in south-eastern Australia, with separate populations in NSW, ACT, Victoria, and Tasmania. There are over 200,000 Hoary Sunray plants in NSW and the ACT, and most populations are stable.

In the ACT, around 20 of the 30 subpopulations are in nature reserves, open forest, woodland or grassland reserves. This includes at:

• Booth in Namadgi National Park
• Mount Majura Nature Reserve
• Mount Ainslie Nature Reserve
• Percival Hill Nature Reserve
• Kowen Escarpment Nature Reserve
• Farrer Ridge Nature Reserve
• Rob Roy Nature Reserve

The Hoary Sunray grows in different soil types, including clay, stony, and gravel soils. Its critical habitats include endangered grasslands and woodlands, which are vital for its survival.

Conservation threats

In the ACT and NSW, the Hoary Sunray isn’t significantly declining. However, the main threats to the Hoary Sunray across its entire range include:

• clearing of native grasslands
• not managing the growth of plants in important habitats
• invasion by weeds
• road maintenance
• climate change causing more frequent and severe droughts
• genetic problems because of small and separated populations.

Conservation status

• National – Endangered (Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999).
• Australian Capital Territory – Endangered (Nature Conservation Act 2014).

Conservation actions

Conservation aims to protect the Hoary Sunray’s native grassland and grassy woodland habitat, including to:

• find and record important populations with more than 10,000 plants and protect them from harm
• develop a monitoring program to track the number and health of the plants
• gather seeds from known populations and store them in the National Seed Bank for future use
• use climate change models to understand potential impacts
• put up signs for populations along roadsides to protect them
• include specific needs of the species in the ACT Ecological Guidelines [PDF 3.1 MB]
• find ways to include local First Nations communities in conservation activities
• encourage and support local conservation projects
• work with other areas to help the Hoary Sunray’s recovery on a larger scale.

Strategies and plans