Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Ewartia nubigena
Common name
Australian edelweiss, Silver ewartia
Family
Asteraceae
Where found
Very low shrubland in alpine feldmark. Colonizes bare areas in alpine herbfields. Kosciuszko National Park.
Notes
Shrub or perennial herb to 0.10 m high, mat-forming. Stems with silver-grey hairs, more or less covered with the remains of old leaves. Sometimes forms extensive mats or hummocks. Leaves crowded or alternating along the stems, 0.4–0.7 cm long, about 2 mm wide, hairy with silvery hairs turning brown with age, tips blunt to somewhat pointed, bases broad and stem-clasping. Male and female flowers on different plants. Flower heads 4–8 mm in diameter, florets purplish. bracts appressed to the flower heads looking like petals, hairless, conspicuous, white, to 3 mm long. Flower heads mostly single, stalkless. Flowering: January–March.
Rare Vic.
PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Ewartia~nubigena (accessed 22 January, 2021)
This identification key and fact sheets are available as a free mobile application:
