Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Olearia tomentosa

Flowering branches. Photographer Don Wood, near Conjola

Flowering branches. Photographer Don Wood, Tathra Wildlife Reserve near Tathra

Back of leaf and flower head. Photographer John Tann, Woronora River, east of Campbelltown

Shrub. Photographer John Tann, Woronora River east of Campbelltown

Common name

Toothed daisy-bush

Family

Asteraceae

Where found

Dry forest, woodland, shrubland, and heath. Coast, ranges, and the eastern edge of the tablelands.

Notes

Shrub to 2 m high. Branchlets denseley hairy with rusty, tangled, T-shaped hairs (needs a hand lens or a macro app on your phone/tablet to see). Leaves alternating up the stems, scattered, 1–8.5 cm long, 9–50 mm wide, upper surface almost hairless and dull green, often rough, lower surface cream or grey to rusty tomentose, margins scalloped to toothed or lobed, tips blunt or rounded, mucronate. Flower heads with 12–33 'petals, blue or white, each 12-25 mm long, and yellow centres. Flower heads 25–59 mm in diameter overall, broadly bell-shaped below the 'petals'. Flower heads single or in loose clusters at the tops of the stems. Flowering: August–May.

Rare Vic.

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Olearia~tomentosa  (accessed 29 January, 2021)