''Olearia minor'', is a small flowering shrub 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 has alternate leaves and white to pale mauve daisy-like flowers from winter to December. It grows in Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales, and Victoria.

Description

''Olearia minor'' is a small shrub to high, branchlets and leaf underside thickly covered with whitish, cottony hairs. The leaves are elliptic or egg-shaped, long, wide, arranged alternately, rounded or broadly pointed, green upper surface, occasional cobweb appearance when young, smooth or rough with short hairs. The single flowers are densely clustered, in diameter and borne at the end of branches, attached either with or without a stalk. The 7-12 white to pale mauve

ligules A ligule (from "strap", variant of ''lingula'', from ''lingua'' "tongue") is a thin outgrowth at the junction of leaf and leafstalk of many Poaceae, grasses (family Poaceae) and Cyperaceae, sedges (family Cyperaceae). A ligule is also a strap-shap ...

(petals) long and the flower disc yellow or mauve. The 4-5

bracts 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 loo ...

are conical shaped, long, arranged in rows, smooth near the base, densely or sparingly covered with short, soft hairs near the either rounded or pointed apex. The dry, one-seeded fruit are narrowly oval shaped, about long, slightly ribbed, smooth or with dense, silky, flattened hairs. Flowering occurs from June to December.

Taxonomy

This daisy was first formally described in 1867 by

George Bentham George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studie ...

who gave it the name ''Olearia pimeleoides'' var. ''minor'' in ''

Flora Australiensis ''Flora Australiensis: a description of the plants of the Australian Territory'', more commonly referred to as ''Flora Australiensis'', and also known by its standard abbreviation ''Fl. Austral.'', is a seven-volume Flora of Australia published b ...

''. In 1991, Nicholas Lander raised the variety to species status as ''Olearia minor'' and the change was published in the journal Telopea.

Distribution and habitat

This species grows in mallee or open scrubland on loam or yellow brown sand or rocky slopes mostly around

Balranald Balranald is a town within the Local government in Australia, local government area of Balranald Shire, in the Murray (New South Wales), Murray region of far south-western New South Wales, Australia. The town of Balranald is located where the ...

district,

Dubbo Dubbo (; ) is a city in the Orana (New South Wales), Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021. The city is located at the intersection of the ...

and the Budawang Range in New South Wales. In Victoria a scattered distribution on loamy soils with mallee in the north-west near Bambill to near the Little Desert and dry forest in the northern Brisbane Ranges and Werribbee Gorge. In South Australia, this daisy-bush is widely distributed in the south of the state, including on

Kangaroo Island Kangaroo Island (, ) is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island, Northern Territory, Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia, southwest of Adelaide. Its closest point to the mainland is Snapper Poi ...

. In Western Australia it grows in sandstone, limestone, sand dunes or rocky slopes amongst mallee or scrubland near Coolgardie, Esperance and the wheatbelt.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15587610 minor Asterales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Victoria (state) Flora of South Australia Flora of Western Australia Plants described in 1867 Taxa named by George Bentham