''Cassinia aculeata'', commonly known as common cassinia, dolly bush or dogwood , is a species of 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 w ...

and is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to south-eastern Australia. It is an erect shrub with

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

, linear, variably-sized leaves, 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 creamy-white to white flowers arranged in rounded

cymes 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 on ...

Description

''Cassinia aculeata'' is an erect shrub that typically grows to a height of and has densely hairy young stems, and flaky bark on the older branches. The leaves are

, linear, long and wide, often with the edges rolled under. The flower

are creamy-white to white, long, arranged in rounded cymes of 30 to 200, in diameter. Flowering occurs from November to February and the

achene An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not ope ...

is cylindrical, long with a pappus of barbed bristles long.

Taxonomy

Dolly bush was first formally described in 1806 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 ''Calea aculeata'' 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 1818, Robert Brown changed the name to ''Cassinia aculeata'' in the ''

Transactions of the Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

''. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

(''aculeata'') means "prickly". In 2009,

Anthony Edward Orchard Anthony Orchard (born 22 May 1946) is a retired botanist who worked at the State Herbarium of South Australia. His main interests were the study of the genera Rosaceae, Haloragaceae, Asteraceae and Rubiaceae. Anthony (Tony) Orchard is a systema ...

described two subspecies in ''

Australian Systematic Botany ''Australian Systematic Botany'' is an international peer-reviewed scientific journal published by CSIRO Publishing. It is devoted to publishing original research, and sometimes review articles, on topics related to systematic botany, such as bio ...

'' and the names are accepted by the

Australian Plant Census The Australian Plant Census (APC) provides an online interface to currently accepted, published, scientific names of the vascular flora of Australia, as one of the output interfaces of the national government Integrated Biodiversity Information Syst ...

: * ''Cassinia aculeata'' (Labill.) R.Br. subsp. ''aculeata'' has three or four florets in each head; * ''Cassinia aculeata'' subsp. ''nova-anglica'' Orchard has five or six, rarely seven florets in each head.

Distribution and habitat

''Cassinia aculeata'' grows in a wide variety of habitats from sea level to above sea level, but often in disturbed areas, as for example after fire or logging operations. It is found in New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and Tasmania. Subspecies ''nova-anglica'' grows at higher altitudes and is only known from the

New England National Park The New England National Park is a protected national park located on the Northern Tablelands in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. The park was created in May 1935 and is situated approximately north of Sydney, and south ...

and a single collection on the

Central Tablelands The Central Tablelands in New South Wales is a geographic area that lies between the Sydney Metropolitan Area and the Central Western Slopes and Plains. The Great Dividing Range passes in a north–south direction through the Central Tablelands ...

Use in horticulture

The species is fast growing and requires heavy, moist, well-drained soils, in partial sun. It does not tolerate salt winds. Dogwood can provide a quick screen while other plants grow. It is not usually long-lived. Cassinias need pruning to maintain shape. The flowers are long-lasting and can also be dried. The foliage may cause skin irritations.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5049441

aculeata Aculeata is a subclade of Hymenoptera containing ants, bees, and stinging wasps. The name is a reference to the defining feature of the group, which is the modification of the ovipositor into a stinger. However, many members of the group cannot ...

Asterales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Tasmania Flora of the Australian Capital Territory Flora of Victoria (Australia) Taxa named by Jacques Labillardière Plants described in 1806