''Minuria leptophylla'' commonly known as minnie daisy, is a flowering plant 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 ...

. It is a small perennial herb with white daisy-like flowers. It 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 and grows in all mainland states.

Description

''Minuria leptophylla'' is a spreading, decumbent herb, occasionally upright to high and usually branched from the base. The stems are sparsely, minutely hairy eventually becoming smooth. The leaves are linear shaped, long, wide with occasional hairs to smooth, margins smooth and sharp at the apex. The single flower heads are at the end of branches, inner

bract 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 lo ...

s narrowly egg-shaped, long, wide, apex rounded, fringed, outer bracts narrower and fringed. The flowers are white to pale mauve and the petals long. Flowering occurs from June to October and the fruit is one-seeded, dry, egg-shaped and long.

Taxonomy and naming

''Minuria leptophylla'' was first formally described in 1836 by

Augustin Pyramus de Candolle Augustin Pyramus (or Pyrame) de Candolle (, , ; 4 February 17789 September 1841) was a Swiss people, Swiss botany, botanist. René Louiche Desfontaines launched de Candolle's botanical career by recommending him at a herbarium. Within a couple ...

and the description was published in '' Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis''. 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 ...

(''leptophylla'') means "leaved ".

Distribution and habitat

Minnie daisy grows in all mainland states of Australia on loam or light clay soils in woodland, forest and shrubland.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15563526 Astereae Asterales of Australia