''Orites lancifolius'', commonly known as alpine orites, is a shrub in the family

Proteaceae The Proteaceae form a family of flowering plants predominantly distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises 83 genera with about 1,660 known species. Together with the Platanaceae and Nelumbonaceae, they make up the order Pro ...

. It is endemic to south-eastern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The species has a spreading habit and may be a prostrate or up to 2 metres high. The leaves are 1 to 3 cm long, and 5 to 12 mm wide. White to pale yellow flowers appear between December and January (early to mid summer) in its native range. The species was first formally described in 1855 by botanist

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 ...

from plant material that he collected "on the rocky summits of the Australian Alps (5-6000 feet high)". ''Orites lancifolius'' occurs in alpine and subalpine areas of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...

and Victoria in heath and tussock grassland amongst granite rocks.

References

lancifolius Flora of the Australian Capital Territory Flora of New South Wales Flora of Victoria (Australia) Proteales of Australia Plants described in 1855 Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller {{Australia-eudicot-stub