About Centrolepis aristata (R.Br.) Roem. & Schult.
Centrolepis aristata (R.Br.) Roem. & Schult. is an annual tufted herb that typically grows 2 to 20 centimetres (0.8 to 7.9 in) tall. The plant is bright green when young, and turns reddish after flowering. Its leaves are shiny, glabrous, thin, and pointed; they usually reach 6 centimetres (2.4 in) in length and 1.6 millimetres (0.06 in) in width. Flowering occurs between August and December. Flower heads are flattened oblong-ovoid and approximately 3 mm (0.12 in) wide. Individual flowers have a brown base and two long opposite primary bracts, with 6 to 22 brown to yellowish flowers forming a terminal cluster. After flowering, the plant produces brown ovoid fruit that contains small soft seeds. The seeds are fusiform and measure 0.6 to 0.8 mm (0.024 to 0.031 in) long. In Western Australia, this species grows in damp sandy-clay-loam soils over granite, found among rocky outcrops and in winter-wet depressions across the Mid West, Wheatbelt, South West, Great Southern, and Goldfields-Esperance regions. In South Australia, it occurs along most of the south coast, across all of Eyre Peninsula and Yorke Peninsula, throughout the entire southeast, and as far north as the Flinders Ranges. Centrolepis aristata is also found in New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania.
