Androcalva fraseri

• Add to collection

This far north, it is unlikely to be Androcalva rossii, which has larger leaves, and tends to be whitish on the backs of the leaves. Fraseri tends to be rusty on the backs of the leaves. https://apps.lucidcentral.org/plants_se_nsw/text/entities/androcalva_fraseri.htm

Agree.

Photo of underside of leaf added. Appears whitish to me.

Is has been split into two species and had a name change. Androcalava fraseri occurs north from about Bermagui. I have just checked the distributions. Rossii occurs south from about Bermagui.
I think this makes this definitely fraseri. It is very hards to distinguish the two from photos,

From the scholarly published botanical revision,
the distinguishing features' wording,
to check for with magnification (a hand lens in the field or a binocular microscope back inside),
here :
Wilkins, C. F. and B. A. Whitlock (2011)
A new Australian genus, *Androcalva*, separated from *Commersonia* (Malvaceae s.l. or Byttneriaceae).
Australian Systematic Botany 24 (5) : 284–349.
—botanical key quotation:
"
37 Stem and flowering stems with white, stellate hairs, or white with tan centres, ~0.5 mm long
– *Androcalva fraseri* (SE Qld; North Coast of NSW)

37 Stem and flowering stems with long golden to ferruginous stellate hairs, ~1 mm long
– *Androcalva rossii* (S NSW; Vic: E Gippsland)
" .

For more than 15 years, I have talked with so many people including great field botanists,
confused by these two species' distinguishing features. I'm not better. I carefully check the plants' stems everytime.

For clarifying and resolving this confusion, going back to the most recent scholarly evidences–based source for the distinguishing features,
has the utmost importance (as i have reproduced above) .

• *Androcalva fraseri* : stems and flowering stems have many white stellate individual hairs (shorter: at 1⁄2 mm average)
(rather than referring to a leaves' undersides' overview of a white appearance or a rusty appearance, which they may have from many other types of hairs there, as that does not have relevance to the distinguishing features between these two species.).

• *Androcalva rossii* : stems and flowering stems have many long golden to ferruginous stellate hairs (longer: at 1 mm average)
(leaves' undersides' overview often has a white appearance or a golden appearance or even a rusty coloured appearance from many other types of hairs there, yet that does not have relevance to the distinguishing features between these two species. ) .

This area is probably in an overlap zone, so without looking at every plant, it is difficult to make a consistent definitive ID.

Yes an overlap region exactly.
Over the years I check and observe both *A. rossii* and *A. fraseri* occurring between at least Kangaroo Valley and Bateman's Bay (or further both? north? and south? – to Bemagui? ) .