Leptorhynchos squamatus

Leptorhynchos squamatus, commonly called scaly buttons, is a small perennial herb of the daisy family (Asteraceae) native to southeastern Australia, occurring across Victoria, Tasmania, New South Wales and South Australia. It grows from a slender, branching rootstock and forms loose mats or tufts of slender, ascending stems 10–40 cm tall, often clothed in fine cottony hairs. The leaves are alternate, narrow-linear to oblanceolate, 1–4 cm long and 1–4 mm wide, with revolute margins and a green upper surface contrasting with a whitish-tomentose underside. Each stem is terminated by a single button-like flower head 8–15 mm across, composed entirely of bright yellow tubular disc florets and subtended by overlapping rows of papery, scarious bracts that give the species its common name. Flowering occurs through spring and early summer, after which the achenes are dispersed by a short pappus of barbellate bristles. The species inhabits open grasslands, grassy woodlands, and disturbed pasture on a range of soil types from sea level to subalpine elevations.