''Olearia incondita'' is a species of flowering plant in the family

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

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 ...

to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a straggly shrub with narrowly elliptic leaves and white or pink and yellow, daisy-like

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

Description

''Olearia incondita'' is a straggly shrub that typically grows to a height of up to , its stems covered with woolly hairs when you, later glabrous. The leaves are arranged alternately, scattered along the branchlets, narrowly elliptic, long, wide and

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

. The surface of the leaves is pimply, the upper surface glabrous and the lower surface with scattered woolly hairs. The heads or daisy-like "flowers" are arranged singly on the ends of branchlets, more or less sessile and in diameter. Each head has seven to ten white or pink 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 ...

, the

ligule A ligule (from "strap", variant of ''lingula'', from ''lingua'' "tongue") is a thin outgrowth at the junction of leaf and leafstalk of many grasses (Poaceae) and sedges. A ligule is also a strap-shaped extension of the corolla, such as that of a ...

long, surrounding 10 to 24 yellow disc florets. Flowering occurs from January to April and the fruit is a slightly flattened, pale brown

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 ...

, the pappus with 74–102 bristles.

Taxonomy

''Olearia incondita'' 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

Alison Marjorie Ashby Alison Marjorie Ashby (7 February 1901 – 12 August 1987) was an Australian botanical artist and plant collector. Early life Ashby was born in Adelaide, South Australia as a youngest daughter of four children, of a property developer and ...

, near Morawa in 1969. 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 ...

(''incondita'') means "unkempt", referring to the appearance of the plant.

Distribution and habitat

''Olearia incondita'' grows near dry lakes and around granite outcrops in the Avon Wheatbelt, Mallee and Yalgoo biogeographic regions of south-western 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 Western Australian government The Government of Western Australia, formally referred to as His Majesty's Government of Western Australia, is the Australian state de ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15586154 humilis Flora of Western Australia Plants described in 1990