Leaves bright green, glabrous or sparsely ciliate toward base, 1–5(–10) cm long, 0.5–1.5 mm wide, slightly dilated toward base. Capitula 2–5 mm diam. in flower, to c. 1 cm diam. in fruit; involucral bracts 3–5 mm long; female florets c. 5–30, corolla c. 1.5–2.5 mm long; inner florets c. 2–6, corolla 1–2 mm long, supported on filiform stipe of similar length. Cypselas 1.5–2 mm long, whitish- to golden-sericeous; pappus slightly shorter than to nearly twice as long as cypsela. Flowers Aug.–Oct.
LoM, MuM, Wim, GleP, VVP, VRiv, MSB, RobP, MuF, GipP, OtP, Gold, CVU, GGr, DunT, NIS, EGU, HSF. Also WA, SA, Qld, NSW, Tas. Grows on seasonally wet ground on a wide variety of soil types (e.g. deep mallee sands, sandy loams, cracking clays etc.), mostly in the north and west of the State, but with isolated occurrences e.g. near Nelson in the far south-west, Keilor Plains near Melbourne, and near Willis in the far east.
There is considerable variation in the size of plants, development of peduncles, and length and shape of pappus scales within this species. An investigation into the taxonomic significance of this variation is warranted.
