''Cassinia rugata'', commonly known as wrinkled dollybush, or wrinkled 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 south-eastern Australia. It is a spreading to erect shrub with hairy, slightly sticky branchlets, oblong to narrow elliptic leaves and

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 of up to three hundred flower heads.

Description

''Cassinia rugata'' is a spreading to erect shrub that typically grows to a height of up to with its branchlets densely covered with cottony white hairs. The leaves are oblong to narrow elliptic, long and about wide on a petiole about long. The upper surface of the leaves is scaly or pimply, the edges rolled under and the lower surface densely covered with cottony hairs. The flower heads are white, long and wide, each with four to seven

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 sixteen to eighteen overlapping involucral bracts. Between 20 and 300 heads are arranged in corymbs in diameter. Flowering occurs from February to April and the

achenes 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 ...

are about long with a pappus of 24 to 28 bristles long.

Taxonomy and naming

''Cassinia rugata'' was first formally described in 1990 by

Neville Grant Walsh Neville Grant Walsh (born 1956) has worked at the National Herbarium of Victoria from 1977. Together with Don Foreman, he authored the first volume of ''Flora of Victoria'', authoring a further two with Timothy John Entwisle, Timothy Entwisle. wh ...

in the journal '' Muelleria'' from specimens collected near

Heathmere Heathmere is a locality in south west Victoria, Australia. The locality is in the Shire of Glenelg, west of the state capital, Melbourne. At the , Heathmere had a population of 238. Traditional ownership The formally recognised traditional own ...

in 1988. 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 ...

(''rugata'') means "folded or wrinkled", referring to the inner involucral bracts.

Distribution

''Cassinia rugata'' grows in swamps and on the edge of rivers in south-eastern South Australia, south-western Victoria and northern Tasmania. The species was only recognised as occurring in Tasmania in 2010, and is only reliably known from two private properties in that state.

Conservation status

This cassinia is listed as "vulnerable" under the Australian Government ''

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cultu ...

'' and the Victorian Government ''

Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 The ''Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988'', also known as the ''FFG Act'', is an act of the Victorian Government designed to protect species, genetic material and habitats, to prevent extinction and allow maximum genetic diversity within the Au ...

'' and as "endangered" under the Tasmanian Government ''

Threatened Species Protection Act 1995 The ''Threatened Species Protection Act 1995'' (TSP Act), is an act of the Parliament of Tasmania that provides the statute relating to conservation of flora and fauna. Its long title is An Act to provide for the protection and management of th ...

''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15561143 rugata Asterales of Australia Flora of Victoria (Australia) Flora of South Australia Flora of Tasmania Plants described in 1990 Taxa named by Neville Grant Walsh