Olearia stilwelliae is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae and is endemic to New South Wales, Australia. It is a shrub with scattered elliptic or egg-shaped leaves, and pale blue, white and yellow, daisy-like inflorescences.

Olearia stilwelliae
In the Australian National Botanic Gardens
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Olearia
Species:
O. stilwelliae
Binomial name
Olearia stilwelliae

Description

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Olearia stilwelliae is a shrub that typically grows to a height of up to 60 cm (24 in). Its leaves are elliptic or egg-shaped, 25–134 mm (0.98–5.28 in) long and 16–35 mm (0.63–1.38 in) wide on a petiole 5–20 mm (0.20–0.79 in) long, the edges of the leaves sometimes toothed. The upper surface of the leaves is glabrous and the lower surface covered with felt-like hairs. The heads or daisy-like "flowers" are arranged singly in leaf axils on a peduncle up to 330 mm (13 in) long, and are 40–48 mm (1.6–1.9 in) in diameter. There are 8 to 12 usually white or pale blue ray florets, surrounding about 35 yellow disc florets, the ligule 15–18 mm (0.59–0.71 in) long. Flowering occurs from June to October and the fruit is a silky-hairy achene, the pappus with 77 to 100 bristles.[2][3]

Taxonomy

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Olearia stilwelliae was first formally described in 1925 by William Blakely in the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales from specimens collected at Nana Glen in 1998.[3][4] The specific epithet (stilwelliae) honours "Miss Sylvia Stilwell who discovered the species with Mr. D. W. C. Shiress".[3]

Distribution and habitat

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This olearia is grows in forest from north of Grafton to Woolgoolga in north-eastern New South Wales.[2]

References

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  1. ^ "Olearia stilwelliae". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  2. ^ a b Murray, Louisa. "Olearia stilwelliae". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  3. ^ a b c Blakely, William F. (1925). "Contributions to our Knowledge of the Flora of New South Wales". Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. 50 (4): 385–386. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  4. ^ "Olearia stilwelliae". APNI. Retrieved 1 August 2022.