''Olearia eremaea'' is a species of 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 ...
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 inland areas of Western Australia. It is a shrub with scattered, more or less elliptic leaves, and white and yellow, daisy-like
inflorescence
In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...
s.
Description
''Olearia eremaea'' is a shrub that typically grows to a height of up to . Its stems and leaves are covered with minute
glandular
A gland is a cell or an organ in an animal's body that produces and secretes different substances that the organism needs, either into the bloodstream or into a body cavity or outer surface. A gland may also function to remove unwanted substance ...
hairs. It has scattered, usually elliptic leaves arranged alternately along the branchlets, long and wide with toothed edges. Both surfaces of the leaves are sticky and densely covered with glandular hairs. The heads or daisy-like
"flowers" are arranged singly on the ends of branchlets and are in diameter on a
peduncle long. Each head has 13 to 22 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 ...
, the
ligule
A ligule (from "strap", variant of ''lingula'', from ''lingua'' "tongue") is a thin outgrowth at the junction of leaf
A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the plant stem, stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above g ...
long, surrounding 41 to 46 yellow disc florets. Flowering occurs in July and August and the fruit is a pale brown
achene
An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple fruit, simple dry fruits, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and Dehi ...
, the
pappus with 16 to 25 long bristles and a smaller number of much shorter ones.
Taxonomy
''Olearia eremaea'' was first formally described in 1990 by
Nicholas Sèan Lander
Nicholas Lander is an Australian botanist.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lander, Nicholas
1948 births
Living people
Botanists active in Australia
20th-century Australian botanists
21st-century Australian botanists ...
in the journal ''
Nuytsia
''Nuytsia floribunda'' is a hemiparasitic tree found in Western Australia. The species is known locally as moodjar and, more recently, the Christmas tree or Western Australian Christmas tree. The display of intensely bright flowers during the ...
'' from specimens collected by
Alex George near
Cosmo Newbery in 1961.
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 ...
refers to the distribution of this species in the
Eremaean Botanical Province of Western Australia.
Distribution and habitat
''Olearia eremaea'' grows in shrubland on stony soil in scattered places in the
Gascoyne
The Gascoyne region is one of the nine regions of Western Australia. It is located in the northwest of Western Australia, and consists of the local government areas of Carnarvon, Exmouth, Shark Bay and Upper Gascoyne. The Gascoyne has about of ...
and
Great Victoria Desert
The Great Victoria Desert is a sparsely populated desert ecoregion and Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, interim Australian bioregion in Western Australia and South Australia.
History
In 1875, British-born Australian explore ...
biogeographic regions of inland Western Australia.
Conservation status
This daisy bush is listed as "not threatened" by the
Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions
The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) is the Government of Western Australia, Western Australian government department responsible for managing lands and waters described in the ''Conservation and Land Management A ...
.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15585798
eremaea
Flora of Western Australia
Plants described in 1990