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Olearia microdisca, commonly known as small-flowered daisy-bush,[2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae and is endemic to Kangaroo Island, South Australia. It is a compact shrub with small, crowded, oblong leaves and white and yellow, daisy-like inflorescences.

Olearia microdisca
Conservation status
Endangered  (EPBC Act)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Asterales
Family:	Asteraceae
Genus:	Olearia
Species:	O. microdisca
Binomial name
Olearia microdisca J.M.Black[1]

Description

Olearia microdisca is a compact shrub that typically grows to a height of up to 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) and has many softly-hairy branches. Its leaves are crowded, sometime overlapping each other, oblong 1.5–2.5 mm (0.059–0.098 in) long, about 1 mm (0.039 in) wide and sessile. The upper surface of the leaves is glabrous, the lower surface is woolly-hairy and the edges are rolled under. The heads or daisy-like "flowers" are arranged singly on the ends of erect branches and sessile. Each head has two to five white ray florets, the ligules about 3 mm (0.12 in) long, surrounding two or three yellow disc florets. Flowering occurs in most months and the fruit is a softly-hairy achene, the pappus about 2 mm (0.079 in) long with 25 to 35 bristles.[3]

Taxonomy

Olearia microdisca was first formally described in 1928 by John McConnell Black in Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of South Australia.[4][5]

Distribution and habitat

Small-flowered daisy-bush grows in heath and mallee and is restricted to Kangaroo Island in South Australia.[2][3]

Conservation status

Olearia microdisca is listed as "endangered" under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. A recovery plan for nationally threatened plant species on Kangaroo Island, including O. microdisca, has been prepared.[6][7]

References

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