''Cassinia longifolia'', commonly known as shiny cassinia,
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 eastern Australia. It is an erect, aromatic shrub with sticky, hairy foliage, linear or oblong to narrow lance-shaped 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 flowers arranged in a dense
corymb.
Description
''Cassinia longifolia'' is an erect, aromatic shrub that typically grows to a height of , its foliage covered with short,
glandular hairs and sticky. The leaves are linear or oblong to narrow lance-shaped, long and wide on a
petiole long. The upper surface of the leaves is
glabrous, the edges curve downwards and the lower surface is covered with fine hairs. The flower heads are long and wide, each with five or six creamy-white
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 ...
surrounded by three to five overlapping rows of egg-shaped
involucral bracts. The heads are arranged in a dense corymb up to in diameter. Flowering occurs in summer and autumn and the
achenes are about long with a
pappus long.
Taxonomy and naming
''Cassinia longifolia'' was first formally described in 1818 by
Robert Brown in the ''
Transactions of the Linnean Society of London''.
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 ...
(''longifolia'') means "long-leaved".
Distribution and habitat
Shiny cassinia grows in forest and disturbed places, especially after fire, and often on ridges. It occurs in south-eastern New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and is widespread and common in eastern Victoria.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2941289
longifolia
Asterales of Australia
Flora of New South Wales
Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)
Plants described in 1818