''Olearia minor'', is a small flowering shrub 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 ...

. It has alternate leaves and white to pale mauve daisy-like flowers from winter to December. It grows in Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales, and Victoria.

Description

''Olearia minor'' is a small shrub to high, branchlets and leaf underside thickly covered with whitish, cottony hairs. The leaves are elliptic or egg-shaped, long, wide, arranged alternately, rounded or broadly pointed, green upper surface, occasional cobweb appearance when young, smooth or rough with short hairs. The single flowers are densely clustered, in diameter and borne at the end of branches, attached either with or without a stalk. The 7-12 white to pale mauve

ligules 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 ...

(petals) long and the flower disc yellow or mauve. The 4-5

bracts In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

are conical shaped, long, arranged in rows, smooth near the base, densely or sparingly covered with short, soft hairs near the either rounded or pointed apex. The dry, one-seeded fruit are narrowly oval shaped, about long, slightly ribbed, smooth or with dense, silky, flattened hairs. Flowering occurs from June to December.

Taxonomy

This daisy was first formally described in 1867 by

George Bentham George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studi ...

who gave it the name ''Olearia pimeleoides'' var. ''minor'' in ''

Flora Australiensis ''Flora Australiensis: a description of the plants of the Australian Territory'', more commonly referred to as ''Flora Australiensis'', and also known by its standard abbreviation ''Fl. Austral.'', is a seven-volume flora of Australia published be ...

''. In 1991,

Nicholas Lander Nicholas Lander (born April 8, 1952 in Manchester, England) is a consultant to and writer on the restaurant industry. He studied at Manchester Grammar School, Jesus College, Cambridge, and Manchester Business SchoolTelopea.

Distribution and habitat

This species grows in mallee or open scrubland on loam or yellow brown sand or rocky slopes mostly around

Balranald Balranald is a town within the local government area of Balranald Shire, in the Riverina district of New South Wales, Australia. The town of Balranald is located where the Sturt Highway crosses the Murrumbidgee River in a remote, semi-desert ...

district,

Dubbo Dubbo () is a city in the Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021. The city is located at the intersection of the Newell, Mitchell, and Gol ...

and the

Budawang Range The Budawang Range, commonly called The Budawangs, a rugged mountain range within the Budawang National Park and the Morton National Park, are part of a spur off the Great Dividing Range and are located in the South Coast region of New South W ...

in New South Wales. In

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

a scattered distribution on loamy soils with mallee in the north-west near Bambill to near the Little Desert and dry forest in the northern

Brisbane Ranges The Brisbane Ranges National Park is a national park in the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia, The national park is situated approximately west of Melbourne near the town of and is managed by Parks Victoria. The park covers par ...

and Werribbee Gorge. In South Australia, this daisy-bush is widely distributed in the south of the state, including on

Kangaroo Island Kangaroo Island, also known as Karta Pintingga (literally 'Island of the Dead' in the language of the Kaurna people), is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia, southwest ...

. In Western Australia it grows in sandstone, limestone, sand dunes or rocky slopes amongst mallee or scrubland near Coolgardie, Esperance and the wheatbelt.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15587610

minor Minor may refer to: * Minor (law), a person under the age of certain legal activities. ** A person who has not reached the age of majority * Academic minor, a secondary field of study in undergraduate education Music theory *Minor chord ** Barb ...

Asterales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Victoria (Australia) Flora of South Australia Flora of Western Australia Plants described in 1867 Taxa named by George Bentham