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''Olearia astroloba'', commonly known as marble daisy-bush, is a species of flowering plant in the family
''Olearia astroloba'', commonly known as marble daisy-bush, 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 a restricted area of Victoria in Australia. It is a greyish 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 ...
, spatula-shaped leaves and mauve or violet and purple, daisy-like 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 o ...
s.
Description
''Olearia astroloba'' is a shrub that typically grows to a height of up to about and has more or less sessile, greyish-green, spatula-shaped leaves long and wide, often with teeth or shallow lobes near the tip. The lower surface of the leaves is densely covered with woolly, star-shaped hairs. The heads are arranged on the ends of branchlets and are in diameter and sessile, with an involucre in diameter at the base. Each head or daisy-like "flower" has 12 to 24 rayflorets
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 ...
, the mauve or violet, petal-like ligule A ligule (from "strap", variant of ''lingula'', from ''lingua'' "tongue") is a thin outgrowth at the junction of leaf and leafstalk of many grasses (Poaceae) and sedges. A ligule is also a strap-shaped extension of the corolla, such as that of a ...
long, surrounding 12 to 45 purple disc florets. Flowering occurs between June and July although flowers continue to appear until March and the fruit is a dark purplish 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 ...
, the pappus bristles long.
Taxonomy
''Olearia astroloba'' was first formally described in 1989 byNicholas Sean Lander
Nicholas is a male given name and a surname.
The Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglicanism, Anglican Churches celebrate Saint Nicholas every year on December 6, which is the name day for "Nicholas". In Greece, the n ...
and 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'' based on plant material collected from Marble Gully 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 ...
(''astroloba'') means "star-shaped lobes", referring to the hairs on the disc florets.
Distribution and habitat
Marble daisy-bush is restricted to Marble Gully, near Mount Tambo in East Gippsland, Victoria. It grows on skeletal soils on steep north-facing slopes at an altitude of about near the headwaters of the Tambo River. Associated plant species are ''Allocasuarina verticillata
''Allocasuarina verticillata'', commonly known as drooping she-oak or drooping sheoak, is a nitrogen fixing native tree of southeastern Australia.
Originally collected in Tasmania and described as ''Casuarina verticillata'' by French naturalist ...
'', ''Eucalyptus nortonii
''Eucalyptus nortonii'', commonly known as bundy, mealy bundy or long-leaved box, is a species of small tree that is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It has rough, thick, fibrous or flaky bark on the trunk and larger branches, smooth greyish ...
'', '' Pomaderris oraria'' subsp. ''calcicola'', ''Ozothamnus adnatus
''Ozothamnus'' is a genus of plants found in Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia.
The following is a list of species' names accepted by the Australian Plant Census as at January 2020:
*'' Ozothamnus adnatus'' - winged everlasting
*'' Ozot ...
'' and '' Themeda triandra''.
Conservation
''Olearia astroloba'' is listed as "vulnerable" under the Australian Government '' Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' and as "threatened" under 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 ...
''. The total population is estimated to be 1,030 plants within a 40 hectare area. Potential threats include inappropriate fire regimes, weed invasion, grazing by stock and rabbits and mining for marble.
Use in horticulture
The species prefer a well-drained position in full sun or part shade. It is able to withstand drought and moderate frost. Pruning promotes new growth and increased flowering. Propagation is by cuttings or seed, though a large percentage of the latter is often non-viable.References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7085984astroloba
''Astroloba'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asphodelaceae, subfamily Asphodeloideae,Stevens, P.F. (2001 onwards)"Asphodeloideae" ''Angiosperm Phylogeny Website'', retrieved 2016-06-10 native to the Cape Province of South Africa.
...
Flora of Victoria (Australia)
Taxa named by Neville Grant Walsh
Plants described in 1989