Olearia speciosa
| Olearia speciosa | |
|---|---|
| |
| Near Cobboboonee National Park | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Asterales |
| Family: | Asteraceae |
| Genus: | Olearia |
| Species: | O. speciosa
|
| Binomial name | |
| Olearia speciosa | |
Olearia speciosa is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae and is endemic to Victoria in Australia. It is a straggly, open shrub with egg-shaped to elliptic leaves, and white and yellow or brownish, daisy-like inflorescences.
Description[edit]
Olearia rudis is a straggly, open shrub that typically grows to a height of up to about 1 m (3 ft 3 in), its branchlets densely woolly-hairy with white to fawn or pinkish hairs. It has egg-shaped to elliptic leaves 20–80 mm (0.79–3.15 in) long and 8–40 mm (0.31–1.57 in) wide on a petiole up to 1 mm (0.039 in) long. The edges of the leaves have irregular teeth and the lower surface is densely woolly-hairy. The heads or daisy-like "flowers" are arranged in loose corymbs on a peduncle 10–50 mm (0.39–1.97 in) and are 22–35 mm (0.87–1.38 in) in diameter. Each head has 4 to 7 white ray florets, the ligule 9–13 mm (0.35–0.51 in) long, surrounding 10 to 14 yellow or brownish disc florets. Flowering occurs from November to January and the fruit is a glabrous achene, the pappus 4.5–6.0 mm (0.18–0.24 in) long.[2][3]
Taxonomy[edit]
Olearia speciosa was first formally described in 1907 by John Hutchinson in The Botanical Magazine from plants raised from seed collected in the Botanic Gardens, Melbourne in 1888.[3][4] The specific epithet (speciosa) means "showy".[5]
Distribution and habitat[edit]
This olearia grows in scattered locations in cool, moist forest in southern Victoria.[2]
Conservation status[edit]
Olearia speciosa is listed as "poorly known in Victoria" on the Department of Sustainability and Environment's Advisory List of Rare Or Threatened Plants In Victoria.[6]
References[edit]
- ^ "Olearia speciosa". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
- ^ a b Walsh, Neville G.; Lander, Nicholas S. "Olearia speciosa". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
- ^ a b Hutchinson, John (1907). "Olearia speciosa". Curtis's Botanical Magazine. 21: 8118. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
- ^ "Olearia speciosa". APNI. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
- ^ Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 310. ISBN 9780958034180.
- ^ "Advisory List of Rare Or Threatened Plants In Victoria - 2014" (PDF). Department of Sustainability and Environment (Victoria). p. 33. Retrieved 14 July 2022.