''Olearia hygrophila'', commonly known as swamp daisy or water daisy, 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 part of North Stradbroke Island in south-eastern Queensland. It is a shrub with slender stems, linear leaves and white and yellow, 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 hygrophila'' is a shrub that typically grows to a height of up to and has slender stems. Its leaves are arranged alternately along the branchlets, linear to elliptic, long and wide, sometimes with a few teeth on the edges. The heads or daisy-like "flowers" are arranged in

panicle A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a panicle are of ...

s on the ends of branches and are in diameter, each head with white 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 ...

long, surrounding yellow disc florets. Flowering mainly occurs from July to September and the fruit is a glabrous

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 ...

long, the pappus about long.

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1836 by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle who gave it the name ''Eurybia hygrophila'' in his ''

Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis ''Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis'' (1824–1873), also known by its standard botanical abbreviation ''Prodr. (DC.)'', is a 17-volume treatise on botany initiated by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle. De Candolle intended it as a summa ...

'', from specimens collected by Allan Cunningham on North Stradbroke Island. In 1867, George Bentham changed the name to ''Olearia hygrophila'' in '' Flora Australiensis''. 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 ...

(''hygrophila'') means "moisture-loving".

Distribution and habitat

''Olearia hygrophila'' grows in swamps and is restricted to the north-east end of North Stradbroke Island in south-eastern Queensland.

Conservation status

This daisy bush is classified as "endangered" under the Australian Government '' Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' and 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 ...

''. The main threats to the species include weed invasion, inappropriate fire regimes land clearing and changes in hydrology.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15586326 hygrophila Flora of Queensland Plants described in 1836 Taxa named by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle