''Brachyscome aculeata'', commonly known as hill daisy, is a tufted perennial herb in the family

Asteraceae Asteraceae () is a large family (biology), family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the Order (biology), order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchi ...

and is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to Australia. It has mostly white daisy-like flowers, a yellow centre, variable-shaped leaves, and flowers from spring to autumn.

Description

''Brachyscome aculeata'' is a herb with ascending branches, tall with leafy stems. The leaves may be either smooth or with hairs, lower leaves lance-shaped, broader at the apex or narrow and rounded at the end, long, wide, usually with a straight edge but occasionally with teeth or lobes. The uppermost leaves are smooth-edged, narrow to lance-shaped. The flowers are white, rarely pink, daisy-like across with a central yellow disc. The 12-20 flower

bracts In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also loo ...

are arranged in rows, egg-shaped to narrow lance-shaped, long and wide, edges rounded or sharply pointed. The dry fruit is one-seeded, egg-shaped, long, wide, either smooth or a finely warty surface. Flowering occurs from October to April.

Taxonomy and naming

The species was originally named ''Bellis aculeata'' in 1806 by

Jacques Labillardière Jacques-Julien Houtou de Labillardière (28 October 1755 – 8 January 1834) was a French biologist noted for his descriptions of the flora of Australia. Labillardière was a member of a voyage in search of the Jean-François de Galaup, comte ...

and the description published in ''

Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen ''Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen'' is a two-volume work describing the flora of Australia. Facsimiles of the originals can be found in the onlinBiodiversity Heritage Library (Vol.1)anVol 2) The author was the French botanist Jacques Labillar ...

''. In 1832

Christian Friedrich Lessing Christian Friedrich Lessing (10 August 1809 – 13 March 1862) was a German botanist who was a native of Groß Wartenberg, Niederschlesien. He was a brother to painter Carl Friedrich Lessing (1808–1880), and a grandnephew of poet Gotthold Ephr ...

changed the name to ''Brachyscome aculeata'' and the description was published in ''Synopsis Generum Compositarum''. The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

(''aculeata'') is derived from the Latin word ''aculeatus'' meaning "prickly" or "sharp-pointed".

Distribution and habitat

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

hill daisy is found growing in dry locations in the southern tablelands from

Wingello Wingello () is a village in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia. It has a station on NSW TrainLink's Southern Highlands Line. The surrounding area is part of the lands administrative unit of the Wingello Parish, a subdivision ...

Kosciuszko National Park The Kosciuszko National Park ( ) is a national park and contains mainland Australia's highest peak, Mount Kosciuszko, for which it is named, and Cabramurra, New South Wales, Cabramurra, the highest town in Australia. Its borders contain a mix o ...

. In

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

mainly found in the east of the state growing in wet locations, in the

Grampians The Grampian Mountains () is one of the three major mountain ranges in Scotland, that together occupy about half of Scotland. The other two ranges are the Northwest Highlands and the Southern Uplands. The Grampian range extends northeast to so ...

region, also at higher altitudes but rarely into open herb fields.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15550320

aculeata Aculeata is an infraorder of Hymenoptera containing ants, bees, and stinging wasps. The name is a reference to the defining feature of the group, which is the modification of the ovipositor into a stinger. However, many members of the group cann ...

Flora of New South Wales Flora of Victoria (state) Plants described in 1832