''Olearia myrsinoides'', commonly known as silky daisy-bush or blush daisy bush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is a spreading shrub with hairy branchlets, egg-shaped to elliptic leaves with toothed edges, and white and yellow or mauve, daisy-like inflorescences.

Description

''Olearia myrsinoides'' is a spreading shrub that typically grows to a height of , its branchlets covered with whitish hairs. The leaves are arranged alternately, egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, to elliptic, long and wide with toothed edges. The upper surface of the leaves is dark green and glabrous, the lower side covered with whitish hairs. The heads or daisy-like "flowers" are arranged in leafy

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 in leaf axils and on the ends of branches on a

peduncle Peduncle may refer to: *Peduncle (botany), a stalk supporting an inflorescence, which is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed *Peduncle (anatomy), a stem, through which a mass of tissue is attached to a body **Peduncle (art ...

up to long. The heads are wide with a conical involucre long. Each head has two to four white ray florets, 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 three or four yellow or mauve disc florets. Flowering occurs from March to November 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 ...

, the pappus long.

Taxonomy

Silky daisy-bush was first formally described in 1806 by Jacques Labillardière, who gave it the name ''Aster myrsinoides'' in his '' Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen''. In 1867, George Bentham changed the name to ''Olearia myrsinoides'' in '' Flora Australiensis''.

Distribution and habitat

''Olearia myrsinoides'' grows in forest, woodland, grassland, and swampy areas in eastern New South Wales, southern Victoria and Tasmania.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7086003 Asterales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Tasmania Flora of Victoria (Australia) myrsinoides Plants described in 1806 Taxa named by Jacques Labillardière