''Olearia iodochroa'', commonly known as the violet daisy bush, 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 south-eastern continental Australia. It is a shrub with branchlets densely covered with whitish hairs, narrowly egg-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base, and white or mauve, and cream-coloured, yellow or blue, 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 iodochroa'' is a usually a shrub that typically grows to a height of , its branchlets densely covered with whitish hairs. The leaves are arranged alternately, more or less

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 ...

, egg-shaped or trowel-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, long and wide. The lower surface of the leaves is densely covered with hairs similar to those on the branchlets, and the upper surface is glabrous. The heads or daisy-like "flowers" are arranged singly or in small groups on the ends of branchlets and are in diameter and more or less sessile. There are three or four rows of

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

s at the base of each head, forming a conical involucre long. Each head has seven to fifteen white or mauve 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 five to sixteen cream-coloured, yellow or blue disc florets. Flowering occurs from June to October and the fruit is a densely silky-hairy

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 30–48 bristles about long.

Taxonomy

Violet daisy bush was first formally described in 1860 by

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Vict ...

who gave it the name ''Eurybia iodochroa'' in his '' Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae'' from specimens collected near the

Genoa River Genoa River is a perennial river located in the Monaro region of New South Wales and flows into the East Gippsland region of Victoria in Australia. It used to be known as Bondi Creek or Yard Creek. The river's name derives from the First People ...

. In 1867, George Bentham changed the name to ''Olearia iodochroa'' in '' Flora Australiensis''. 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 ...

(''iodochroa'') means "violet coloured".

Distribution and habitat

''Olearia iodochroa'' grows on rocky outcrops in woodland and forest in elevated places from Bimberi Peak and

Captains Flat Captains Flat is a town in the Southern Tablelands of rural New South Wales, Australia, in Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council. It is south of Queanbeyan. Captains Flat township is bounded by the non-urban parts of the locality of Captains F ...

in south-eastern New South Wales to the far east of Victoria.

Use in horticulture

This daisy bush can be grown from seed or from cuttings and is hardy in most soils if grown in full sun or part shade. It can be grown as a hedge if planted side-by-side, and kept pruned.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15587201 iodochroa Flora of New South Wales Flora of Victoria (Australia) Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller Plants described in 1860