Daisies of the genus Trichocline are found across southern South America, with a single species from Australia. They are small perennial herbs with red, yellow, orange, or rarely white flowers found on sandy or rocky grasslands, shrublands, or human-modified areas such as roadsides with exposed soil, mostly at high altitudes.
In a paper published in the journal Phytotaxa on 23 January 2012, Eduardo Pasini of the Programa de Pós-Graduação em Botânica at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul and Mara Rejane Ritter of the Departamento de Botânica at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul describe a new species of Trichocline from southern Brazil and adjacent areas of Uruguay.
The new species is named Trichocline cisplatina, with cisplatina meaning beside the Platina, referring to the Río de la Plata. The plants were found in the Brazilian State of Rio Grande do Sul and Rocha Province, Uruguay. They grew on rocky or sandy soils on grasslands, shrublands and disturbed soils, on coastal plains up to an altitude of 400 m.
Map showing the known distribution of Trichocline cisplatina (black circles), and the closely related Trichocline catharinensis (black squares). Pasini & Ritter (2012).
Trichocline cisplatina is a herbaceous plant reaching 23 cm in total height when flowering. It is considered to by Vulnerable under the terms of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Red List, due to introduced commercial Pines and European Gorse in its range.
(Top) Photograph of Trichocline cisplatina in the wild. (Bottom) Line drawing of Trichocline cisplatina. Pasini & Ritter (2012).
Environments colonized by Trichocline cisplatina. (Top) Sandy grassland. (Bottom) Hillside with shrubland vegetation. Pasini & Ritter (2012).
See also A new, diploid, Pincushion Plant, from the Rocky Mountains, New species of Ox-eye Bean from Costa Rica and Panama, New species of Pipewort from Brazil, A new species of Orchid from Bahia State, Brazil and New species of parasitic Broomrape from South Korea.
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