''Olearia cuneifolia'' 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 Queensland. It is an erect shrub with lance-shaped to wedge-shaped leaves and white, 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 ...

Description

''Olearia cuneifolia'' is an erect shrub that typically grows to a height of up to high, its stems covered with glandular hairs and sticky. The leaves arranged alternately,

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 ...

, wedge-shaped to lance-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, long, wide and more or less glabrous. The heads or daisy-like "flowers" are arranged singly on the ends of branchlets and are sessile with an involucre long and wide at the base. Each head has 14 to 21 ray

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 ...

, the

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 ...

s white, long, surrounding 28–42 disc florets. Flowering has been observed in March, May, September and October and the fruit is a silky-hairy

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 with creamy-white bristles in two rows.

Taxonomy and naming

''Olearia cuneifolia'' was first formally described in 2015 by

Anthony Bean Anthony Russell Bean (born 1957) is an Australian botanist who works at the Queensland Herbarium and Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Mount Coot-tha. Since 1982, he has led the Eucalyptus Study Group of the Society for Growing Australian Plants. Care ...

and Michael T. Mathieson in the journal '' Austrobaileya'' from specimens collected by Mathieson near

Mungallala Mungallala is a rural town and locality in the Maranoa Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Mungallala had a population of 136 people. Geography The town is in South West Queensland, west of the state capital Brisbane and ...

. 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 ...

''(cuneifolia)'' refers to the wedge-shaped leaves.

Distribution and habitat

This daisy bush grows in forest and woodland between

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

and Charleville in north Queensland.

Conservation status

''Olearia cuneifolia'' is listed as of "least concern" under the Queensland Government ''

Nature Conservation Act 1992 The ''Nature Conservation Act 1992'' is an act of the Parliament of Queensland, Australia, that, together with subordinate legislation, provides for the legislative protection of Queensland's threatened biota. As originally published, it prov ...

''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q65944398 cuneifolia Flora of New South Wales Plants described in 2015 Taxa named by Anthony Bean