Billy buttons facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Billy buttons |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Craspedia (plant)
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| Species: |
variabilis
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Craspedia variabilis, often called billy buttons, is a cool plant that grows in many parts of Australia. It's a type of herb that can be either an annual (meaning it lives for one year) or a perennial (meaning it lives for more than two years). You can find it in all mainland states of Australia except the Northern Territory. It likes temperate areas, which means places with mild climates, but it doesn't grow in very cold, high-up alpine regions.
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What Do Billy Buttons Look Like?
Billy buttons usually grow to be about 10 to 60 centimeters (about 4 to 24 inches) tall. They have one to five flower stems, and at the bottom of these stems, you'll see a circle of leaves called a rosette. More leaves are scattered along the flower stems.
Each leaf is shaped like a spoon, about 5 to 13 centimeters long and 5 to 20 millimeters wide. The leaves can be light green or olive green. The flower stems are straw-colored or reddish, and both the leaves and stems feel a bit hairy.
This plant has thick, woolly roots that spread out. It also has broad, reddish leaf bases that overlap and stay at the bottom of the flower stem.
The Flowers
The flowers of billy buttons usually appear from early spring to early summer. They form a round, dome-shaped head. Each head is made up of about 40 to 100 tiny, golden-yellow flowers, and each little flower has a short stem.
How Billy Buttons Got Their Name
Scientists who study plants are called botanists. Two botanists, Joy Everett and Andrew N.L. Doust, studied the group of plants that billy buttons belong to, called Craspedia.
They officially named C. variabilis as a new species. They also named a few other similar plants at the same time. They mentioned that C. variabilis is a "complex species," meaning it has many different forms. This is because it grows in so many different places.
Why Variabilis?
The second part of its scientific name, variabilis, means "variable" or "changing." This name was chosen because the plant looks a bit different depending on where it grows across its wide range in Australia.
Where Billy Buttons Grow
Billy buttons can be found in many different types of environments, but they never grow in very cold, high-altitude alpine areas.
For example, in Western Australia, they like to grow in flat areas that get wet during certain seasons, on rocky granite outcrops, and on slopes. In the Sydney area, they are common in open forests and grassy fields.
Growing Your Own Billy Buttons
If you want to grow billy buttons, you can start them from seeds. They love to grow in full sun, so pick a sunny spot!
They can grow in almost any type of soil, as long as the soil isn't too wet. You can treat them like an annual plant, meaning you plant them each year. They look great planted by themselves or in large groups to create a colorful display in a garden bed.
