Olearia stenophylla N.G.Walsh APNI* Description: Shrub to 1.2 m high, multistemmed and usually leafless in the lower half. Younger stems, undersurfaces of leaves and peduncles densely floccose with white to pale fawn stellate hairs.
Leaves alternate, sessile, oblong to linear, 40–80 mm long, 1–5 mmk wide, apex acute, base cuneate, margins entire, recurved to revolute, upper surface glabrous at maturity with scattered tubercles, lustrous, with impressed venation.
Heads in corymbs terminating main branches and short lateral branches. Peduncles mostly 1–3 cm long. Involucral bracts 3 or 4 seriate, outer ovate, 1 mm long, inner oblong to narrow-ovate, 3.5–4 mm long. outer surface with sparce multicellular gland tipped hairs., usually with a few eglandular stellate hairs. Ray florets 9–14 and in one row, white (rarely pale mauve or lilac), ligule 4–6 mm, obtuse, entire or minutely three lobed. Disc florets similar in number to the ray florets, 4 mm long, yellow.
Achenes flattened-cylindric to narrow-obovoid, c. 2 mm long, shortly sericeous, obscurely 6-ribbed. Pappus biseriate, outer 10–20 barbellate bristles or narrow flattened scales 0.5–1 mm long, the inner of 30–40 barbellate bsristles 3–4 mm long.
Flowering: Flowers late November to mid December.
Distribution and occurrence: Confined to a small area in the catchment of the Tumut River in the Kosciuszko National Park on the southern tablelands of New South Wales. Locally common in this area but assessed as rare. In Eucalyptus pauciflora woodland between 1200 and 1400 m altitude. Soils is shallow and derived from shaly sedimentary substrate. Typically associated shrubs include Olearia phlogopappa, Podolobium alpestre, Ozothamnus secundiflorus, Grevillea victoriae.
NSW subdivisions: ST
Text by Louisa Murray
Taxon concept: Walsh, N.G. (1999) New species in Asteraceae from the Subalps of Southeastern Australia. Muelleria 12(2) : 223-225
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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