''Cassinia'' is a genus of about fifty-two species of flowering plants 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 ...

that are native to Australia and New Zealand. Plants in the genus ''Cassinia'' are shrubs, sometimes small trees with leaves arranged alternately, and

heads A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may no ...

of white, cream-coloured, yellow or pinkish flowers surrounded by several 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 ...

Description

Plants in the genus ''Cassinia'' are shrubs or small trees, sometimes with sticky foliage. The leaves are arranged alternately, the edges flat to strongly rolled under, and the flowers white to cream-coloured, yellow or pinkish, arranged in heads, the heads in cylindrical, top-shaped or bell-shaped

corymb Corymb is a botanical term for an inflorescence with the flowers growing in such a fashion that the outermost are borne on longer pedicels than the inner, bringing all flowers up to a common level. A corymb has a flattish top with a superficial re ...

s. The heads are surrounded by several rows of usually erect, boat-shaped bracts. The

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 ...

are

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

and cylindrical with five lobes and the cypselas are small and usually have a pappus of bristles.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Cassinia'' was first formally described in 1817 by Robert Brown in his book ''Observations on the Natural Family of Plants called Compositae''. Brown had previously used the name ''Cassinia'' in the second edition of the ''

Hortus Kewensis ''Hortus Kewensis, or a Catalogue of the Plants Cultivated in the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew'' by William Aiton was a 1789 catalogue of all the plant species then in cultivation at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is ...

'' but the name was not validly published because no species was described. The genus was named for French botanist

Alexandre de Cassini Count Alexandre Henri Gabriel de Cassini (9 May 1781 – 23 April 1832) was a French botanist and naturalist, who specialised in the sunflower family (Asteraceae) (then known as family Compositae). He was the youngest of five children of Jacqu ...

Species list

The following is a list of species accepted by

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was launched in March 2017 with the ultimate aim being "to enable users to access information on all the world's known seed-bearing plants by ...

as of May 2021: * '' Cassinia accipitrum'' Orchard (N.S.W.) * ''

Cassinia aculeata ''Cassinia aculeata'', commonly known as common cassinia, dolly bush or dogwood , is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is an erect shrub with sessile, linear, variably-sized leave ...

'' (Labill.) R.Br. – dogwood, common cassinia, dolly bush (N.S.W., S.A., Tas., Vic.) * '' Cassinia × adunca'' F.Muell. (S.A.) * '' Cassinia amoena'' Cheeseman (N.Z.) * '' Cassinia × amoenatorta'' Carse (N.Z.) * ''

Cassinia arcuata ''Cassinia arcuata'', commonly known as drooping cassinia, biddy bush, Chinese scrub, sifton bush and Chinese shrub, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae and is endemic to Australia. It is a shrub, sometimes a small tree with ...

'' R.Br. – Chinese scrub, drooping cassinia, sifton bush (N.S.W., S.A., W.A., Vic.) * '' Cassinia aureonitens'' N.A.Wakef. – yellow cassinia (N.S.W.) * '' Cassinia cinerea'' Orchard (Qld.) * '' Cassinia collina'' C.T.White (Qld.) * '' Cassinia compacta'' F.Muell. (N.S.W., Qld.) * '' Cassinia complanata'' J.M.Black – smooth cassinia (Vic., S.A.) * '' Cassinia copensis'' Orchard (N.S.W., Qld.) * '' Cassinia cunninghamii'' DC. – Cunninghams everlasting (N.S.W.) * '' Cassinia decipiens'' Orchard (N.S.W.) * '' Cassinia denticulata'' R.Br. – stiff cassinia (N.S.W.) * '' Cassinia diminuta'' Orchard - dwarf cassinia (Vic.) * '' Cassinia fulvida'' Hook.f. (N.Z.) * '' Cassinia furtiva'' Orchard (N.S.W.) * '' Cassinia heleniae'' Orchard (N.S.W.) * '' Cassinia hewsoniae'' Orchard (N.S.W., A.C.T.) * '' Cassinia laevis'' R.Br. – cough bush, dead finish (Qld., N.S.W., A.C.T., Vic.) * '' Cassinia lepschii'' Orchard (N.S.W., Qld.) * '' Cassinia leptocephala'' F.Muell. (N.S.W.) * '' Cassinia longifolia'' R.Br. – shiny cassinia (N.S.W., A.C.T., Vic.) * '' Cassinia macrocephala'' Orchard (N.S.W.) * '' Cassinia maritima'' Orchard (N.S.W., Vic.) * '' Cassinia monticola'' Orchard (N.S.W., Vic.) * '' Cassinia nivalis'' Orchard – ochre cassinia (Vic.) * '' Cassinia ochracea'' Orchard (N.S.W.) * '' Cassinia ozothamnoides'' (F.Muell.) Orchard (Vic.) * '' Cassinia petrapendula'' (Orchard) Orchard (N.S.W.) * '' Cassinia quinquefaria'' R.Br. (N.S.W., Qld., A.C.T.) * '' Cassinia retorta'' A.Cunn. ex DC. (N.Z.) * '' Cassinia rugata'' N.G.Walsh (Vic., S.A., Tas.) * '' Cassinia scabrida'' Orchard – rough cassinia (Vic.) * '' Cassinia sifton'' Orchard (W.A., S.A., N.S.W., A.C.T. (naturalised), Vic. (uncertain origin) * '' Cassinia storyi'' (Orchard) Orchard (N.S.W.) * '' Cassinia straminea'' (Benth.) Orchard (N.S.W) * '' Cassinia subtropica'' F.Muell. – bushy rosemary (Qld., N.S.W.) * '' Cassinia tegulata'' Orchard – Avenue cassinia (S.A.) * '' Cassinia telfordii'' Orchard (N.S.W.) * '' Cassinia tenuifolia'' Benth. – bully bush, killmoke (N.S.W.) * '' Cassinia tenuis'' (Orchard) Orchard (N.S.W) * '' Cassinia theodori'' F.Muell. (N.S.W.) * '' Cassinia theresae'' Orchard (N.S.W.) * '' Cassinia thinicola'' Orchard (N.S.W.) * '' Cassinia trinerva'' N.A.Wakef. (N.S.W., Qld., Vic., Tas.) * '' Cassinia uncata'' A.Cunn. – sticky cassinia (N.S.W., S.A.) * '' Cassinia vauvilliersii'' Hook.f. (N.Z.) * '' Cassinia venusta'' Orchard (N.S.W., Vic.) * '' Cassinia wilsoniae'' Orchard (Vic., S.A.) * '' Cassinia wyberbensis'' Orchard (Qld.)

References

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q2702870 Asteraceae genera Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)