''Olearia teretifolia'' 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 to south-eastern Australia. It is a bushy shrub with lance-shaped, egg-shaped or elliptic leaves arranged in opposite pairs, 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 ...

Description

''Olearia viscosa'' is a bushy shrub that typically grows to a height of up to about and has more or less

glabrous Glabrousness () is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes, or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of a plant or animal, or be due to loss because of a physical condition, ...

, sticky branchlets. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs, lance-shaped to narrowly egg-shaped or elliptic, long and wide on a short

petiole Petiole may refer to: *Petiole (botany), the stalk of a leaf, attaching the blade to the stem *Petiole (insect anatomy) In entomology, petiole is the technical term for the narrow waist of some hymenopteran insects, especially ants, bees, and ...

. The upper surface is sticky or covered with resin

glands A gland is a Cell (biology), cell or an Organ (biology), 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 funct ...

, the lower surface whitish or yellowish and densely hairy. The heads or daisy-like "flowers" are arranged in moderately dense groups on the ends of branches, each head in diameter with a narrowly conical

involucre 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 look ...

long at the base. Each head has one or two 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 3 to 5 yellow disc florets. Flowering occurs in November and December and the fruit is a ribbed, cylindrical

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 ...

long, the pappus long.

Taxonomy

This daisy was first formally described in 1867 by

Jacques Labillardière Jacques-Julien Houtou de Labillardière (28 October 1755 – 8 January 1834) was a French biologist noted for his descriptions of the flora of Australia. Labillardière was a member of a voyage in search of the Jean-François de Galaup, comte ...

who gave it the name ''Aster viscosus'' in his book ''

Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen ''Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen'' is a two-volume work describing the flora of Australia. Facsimiles of the originals can be found in the onlinBiodiversity Heritage Library (Vol.1)anVol 2) The author was the French botanist Jacques Labillar ...

''. In 1867,

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 ...

changed the name to ''Olearia viscosa'' 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 ...

''. 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 ...

(''viscosa'') means "abounding in bird lime", that is "sticky" or "viscid".

Distribution and habitat

''Olearia viscosa'' grows in forest, mainly in Tasmania where it is widespread and reasonably common, especially in the south of the state, but also in Victoria where it is confined to coastal scrub and the edges of rainforest near

Lakes Entrance Lakes Entrance is a town in the Shire of East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. It is situated approximately east of Melbourne, near a managed, artificial channel connecting the Gippsland Lakes to Bass Strait. At the 2016 census, Lakes Entrance ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15588871 Asterales of Australia

viscosa ''Potentilla longifolia'' is a species of plant in the family Rosaceae Rosaceae (), the rose family, is a family of flowering plants that includes 4,828 known species in 91 genera. The name is derived from the type genus '' Rosa''. The fa ...

Flora of Tasmania Flora of Victoria (state) Taxa named by Jacques Labillardière Plants described in 1867