''Olearia elliptica'', commonly known as the sticky daisy bush, is a shrub in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Asteraceae The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...

and is native to

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

in eastern Australia. It has scattered, sticky leaves and white flowers in summer and autumn. Olearia elliptica habit

Description

''Olearia elliptica'' is a shrub that typically grows to a height of and has scattered, curved, elliptic leaves long, wide on a petiole up to long. The upper surface of the leaves is sticky and the lower surface is a paler green. The heads or daisy-like "flowers" are arranged in loose groups on the ends of branches on a peduncle up to long and are wide. Each head has 8 to 23 white ray

florets This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary o ...

surrounding 8 to 30 yellow disc florets. Flowering occurs between November and May and the fruit are bristly

achene An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not ope ...

Taxonomy and naming

''Olearia elliptica'' was first formally described in 1836 by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle who published the description in his 17-volume treatise, ''

Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis ''Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis'' (1824–1873), also known by its standard botanical abbreviation ''Prodr. (DC.)'', is a 17-volume treatise on botany initiated by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle. De Candolle intended it as a summa ...

''. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

(''elliptica'') is a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word meaning "a defective circle" or "an ellipse". In 1993, Peter Shaw Green described two subspecies of ''O. elliptica'' that have been accepted by the

Australian Plant Census The Australian Plant Census (APC) provides an online interface to currently accepted, published, scientific names of the vascular flora of Australia, as one of the output interfaces of the national government Integrated Biodiversity Information Syst ...

: * ''Olearia elliptica'' subsp. ''elliptica'' has more heads of flowers in the corymb (between 20 and 50) and occurs in continental New South Wales and Queensland; * ''Olearia elliptica'' subsp. ''praetermissa'' is a smaller plant with between 8 and 15 flowers in the corymb and is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 found elsew ...

Lord Howe Island Lord Howe Island (; formerly Lord Howe's Island) is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, part of the Australian state of New South Wales. It lies directly east of mainland P ...

. The epithet ''praetermissa'' is a

word meaning "overlooked", referring to the distinctness of this subspecies having only been recognised recently.

Distribution and habitat

Subspecies ''elliptica'' occurs from

Berry A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit, although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples are strawberries, raspb ...

northwards along central and eastern New South Wales to the Queensland border. It is found in areas of annual rainfall of over 900 mm in the

Sydney Basin The Sydney Basin is an interim Australian bioregion and is both a structural entity and a depositional area, now preserved on the east coast of New South Wales, Australia and with some of its eastern side now subsided beneath the Tasman Sea. ...

Use in horticulture

Sticky daisy bush adapts readily to cultivation, preferring acidic soils in part shade or sun.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7085991 elliptica Asterales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Plants described in 1836 Taxa named by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle