''Ozothamnus reflexifolius'', commonly known as reflexed everlastingbush, is a 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 ...

. It is known from only a single population in the Meehan Range, south-eastern Tasmania. It is thought to be closely related to ''O. lycopodioides'' and ''O. selaginoides''.

Description

''Ozothamnus reflexifolius'' usually grows to between high, branches slender and spreading. The leaves are closely arranged, alternate, and sessile, bright green, glabrous, long, wide, strongly reflexed and parallel to the stem in older growth. The reflexed portion of the leaf is broadly ovate to orbicular, long, wide, the strongly reflexed mature leaves differentiating ''O. reflexifolius'' from ''O. lycopodioides'' and ''O. selaginoides''. The

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 ...

is cream to yellowish, hemispherical, diameter, without stalks, grouped in clusters of five to eight at the ends of the branches, and overtopped by the branches arising immediately below the inflorescences. Flowering occurs from November to March and the fruits are cylindric shaped cypsela, long, small and dry with a tuft of barbed bristles at the apex. Seeds are highly fecund and germinate readily although have a short period of viability.

Conservation status

''Ozothamnus reflexifolius'' is listed as vulnerable under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and the Threatened Species Protection Act 1995 (Tasmania).

Taxonomy and naming

The species was described in 2003 by Kevin E Leeson and Andrew C Rozefelds after discovery in 2000 by Richard Schahinger. ''O. reflexifolius'' is named for the reflexed appearance of the adult leaves.

Distribution and habitat

The species is endemic to the Meehan Range, south-eastern Tasmania, occurring on skeletal soils derived from

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...

dolerite. The population of 4000-5000 mature plants occupies 2 ha within an area of 4-5 ha. The plants occur as either an understory shrub in

Allocasuarina ''Allocasuarina'' is a genus of trees in the flowering plant family Casuarinaceae. They are endemic to Australia, occurring primarily in the south. Like the closely related genus '' Casuarina'', they are commonly called sheoaks or she-oaks. ...

forest, co-dominant in open heath with ''

Spyridium obovatum ''Spyridium obovatum'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Rhamnaceae and is endemic to Tasmania. It is an upright shrub that typically grows to a height of and has egg-shaped leaves, the narrower end towards the base, and about lon ...

'' var. ''velutinum'', or as a component of dolerite rock face vegetation. The restriction of the species to a single population is thought to be a combination of biological attributes, site attributes, and fire disturbance.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15577803 reflexifolius Asterales of Australia Plants described in 2003